NEW FIGURES HAVE shown that the people of Ireland are yet to be persuaded on ‘the other’ referendum taking place in May.
Figures from a survey carried out by the RTÉ Panel in conjunction with Amárach Research have found that 70% are currently against lowering the age of eligibility for a presidential candidate to 21.
Overall 26% said that they were in favour of the constitutional change while a further 4% answered ‘Don’t know’.
Interestingly, there is not unanimous support for the change among younger voters. Of 15 to 24-year-olds, only 48% are in favour, while 52% are against.
Older voters are stronger in their opposition to the change – with only 13% of those over the age of 55 thinking that 21-year-olds should be allowed to run for the presidency.
These figures have shown an increase in the opposition vote from figures published last week in the Irish Times.
They found that overall 62% were against the proposed amendment.
Discussing the matter in the Dáil, TDs had a difficult time extracting the reasoning as to why the change should be made.
Fianna Fáil’s Charlie McConalogue said that while he acknowledged the importance of asking the question, it would not help to bring about diversity on the ballot paper and was, “sop and a patronising measure”.
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