A sign of the times: 27,000 students register to vote ahead of May 25th

By Geraldine Carton
03rd May 2018

A sign of the times: 27,000 students register to vote ahead of May 25th

Anyone who thinks that the youth of Ireland does not actively engage in this country’s politics, should think again.

It’s with a distinct feeling of pride that we report the latest announcement to come from The Union of Students in Ireland (USI) today, which made known the fact that Students’ Unions all over Ireland have been responsible for directly registering 26,979 new student voters in the last number of months.

This news comes after the recent reports which found that up to 150,000 young people in Ireland are not registered to vote in next month’s referendum.

Speaking about the voter registration drives, USI President Michael Kerrigan said: “it’s clear students want to vote on this issue. We have already registered over 18,000 students in semester one, with Students’ Unions registering a further 8000 new voters in the last 3 weeks. With more voter registration drives to go, we expect this number to rise. We’re not finished yet.”

Anyone who turns 18 before May 25th is eligible to vote in this election but must be registered before the deadline next Tuesday May 8^th.

Mr Kerrigan had this advice for any student not registered to vote: “Students can go onto www.checktheregister.ie and see if they are registered to vote. All students have to do is fill out the RFA2 forms found on www.checktheregister.ie, get your local Garda to stamp the form, and post the form to your local County Council. Forms must be sent off before Friday (May 4^th) because of the Bank Holiday Monday, otherwise, you will have to physically drop your form in.”

Whatever the result of the upcoming referendum, it’s reassuring to know that the youth of Ireland are taking a proactive in their future on this island of Ireland.