Low turnout in elections is usually blamed on apathy from the franchised youth in the country who don’t bother to make their way to the polls. Apart from those who will always have an interest or those raised in a dyed in the wool political household, getting the younger generation involved in politics is no easy task. Who is to blame? The political parities, the media, education or the politicians themselves. There is no easy answer to a complex question. But on the ground moves are being made by the political parties to capture the youth vote and generate interest in politics in the run up to next year’s elections.
Ógra Fianna Fáil, Young Fine Gael and Ógra Sinn Féin are all active on the ground in Mayo and they are gearing up for next year’s double election action on both the local and European level, and this week the Mayo Advertiser spoke to those involved on the ground level with getting the youth out to vote. Gerard McHale is the secretary of the Mayo branch of Ógra Fianna Fáil and not only will he be busy helping the party’s youth arm, he has actually put himself forward for the election in the Claremorris area. “I was nominated to go forward to the selection committee who will be picking the candidates and I had the interview, so it’s up to them now if they pick me to run. I’m looking forward to the challenge if they pick me but if not I will be working hard with Ógra with the young candidates that are selected by the party.”
Running young faces
It’s not only Ógra Fianna Fáil who are looking to run young candidates in the elections next year, Young Fine Gael are looking to put some forward too, as John Lohan from Young Fine Gael explained. “Last time out Jarlath Munnelly was backed by the Young Fine Gael party and we had Connor Cresham running for Castlebar Town Council. We hope to be running a couple of candidates again this time out. It’s all about getting the right person who can excite the younger population and try to make a go at getting one of the seats.” Ógra Sinn Féin last time out celebrated their own success, with Noel Campbell getting elected to Castlebar Town Council first time out. Martin Corcoran from the party is hoping that they will have the same success this time around. “It was a good result last time and we are hoping to make marked improvements this time around in the county on both town council and county council level. We have a small but growing organisation, it’s about 35 members active full time at present, with others then when election time comes around. We will be working hand in hand with the party proper when the elections come around, canvassing and attending events.”
Getting people interested in politics
Getting people involved is the hard part of the job, all three agree, and because a large majority of the 18-25-year-old population live away from their homesteads while they attend college it can be difficult to keep organisations growing. Gerard McHale recognises this problem. “I got involved myself when I went to college in UCD in the Kevin Barry Cumann and then when I came home in 2003 I got actively involved in getting the different cumanns back up and running. When people are in college and they have time on their hands they can give a more full commitment, but when they finish up and come home and start working it can be hard to give the time. We’re working hard to get people interested and active.” Ógra Sinn Féin are taking a proactive approach to the situation by getting involved at GMIT Castlebar, as Martin explained. “We have a group at the GMIT that we work with, the situation with the possible reintroduction of tuition fees has really energised students across the country and we’re there on the ground giving them help, advice and support.”
With the recent economic upturns and upheavals keeping the political agenda of all parties in the public eye, all three are keen to get the young population involved no matter what political stripe they will prescribe to. “We’re looking to get new members involved in the party, I would expect that our numbers will grow over the course of the next few months when the elections start to come closer.” This growth as the election looms closer is something that Gerard also expect to see. “We have really grown the Ógra cumanns since 2003 and they have been steadily picking up numbers since then, but I would expect when the candidates are announced and the canvassing starts that we will see a lot more people getting involved in the party.”
