{"id":12780,"date":"2025-06-19T13:42:13","date_gmt":"2025-06-19T12:42:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/?p=12780"},"modified":"2025-06-19T13:42:13","modified_gmt":"2025-06-19T12:42:13","slug":"time-is-right-to-progress-bill-which-would-reduce-voting-age-to-16","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/ga\/time-is-right-to-progress-bill-which-would-reduce-voting-age-to-16\/","title":{"rendered":"Time is right to progress Bill which would reduce voting age to 16"},"content":{"rendered":"

The results of today\u2019s Global Youth Participation Index show conditions are ripe for the introduction of a reduced voting age, according to Social Democrats children spokesperson Aidan Farrelly.<\/p>\n

Deputy Farrelly said:<\/p>\n

\u201cIreland has ranked 18th out of over 140 countries worldwide in terms of youth participation in political, economic and civic life – those aged 15-20 were included in the report.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe report specifically points out, however, that young people have \u2018limited access to formal power\u2019 and \u2018few clear pathways\u2026 for young people to transition into national political roles\u2019 – the passing of the Social Democrats Reduction of the Voting Age to Sixteen Years Bill 2025 would enable those who are engaged to contribute their voice to the future of our country.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople aged 16 and 17 are as civically informed as their peers aged over 18, but are unjustly restricted when it comes to democratic participation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf one can work full time and pay taxes, it is only fair to afford that person with the formal opportunity to influence how these taxes are spent, locally and nationally.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur youth should be able to participate in our democratic processes, the outcomes of which will affect their lives as much as anyone else\u2019s, and more than some.<\/p>\n

\u201cIssues in climate and housing will affect 16 and 17-year-olds the same as it will those over 18 – they must be allowed to have their say in the decisions which will shape their future.\u201d<\/p>\n

June 19th, 2025<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The results of today\u2019s Global Youth Participation Index show conditions are ripe for the introduction of a reduced voting age, according to Social Democrats children spokesperson Aidan Farrelly. Deputy Farrelly said: \u201cIreland has ranked 18th out of over 140 countries worldwide in terms of youth participation in political, economic and civic life – those aged […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":11557,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[396,7,648],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12780","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aidan-farrelly","category-press-release","category-youth"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTime is right to progress Bill which would reduce voting age to 16 - Social Democrats<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/time-is-right-to-progress-bill-which-would-reduce-voting-age-to-16\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"ga_IE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Time is right to progress Bill which would reduce voting age to 16 - Social Democrats\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The results of today\u2019s Global Youth Participation Index show conditions are ripe for the introduction of a reduced voting age, according to Social Democrats children spokesperson Aidan Farrelly. Deputy Farrelly said: \u201cIreland has ranked 18th out of over 140 countries worldwide in terms of youth participation in political, economic and civic life – those aged […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/time-is-right-to-progress-bill-which-would-reduce-voting-age-to-16\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Social Democrats\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/socialdemocratsireland\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-06-19T12:42:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/SOCIAL-DEMOCRATS-_87.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1257\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Press Officer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@SocDems\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@SocDems\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Press Officer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/time-is-right-to-progress-bill-which-would-reduce-voting-age-to-16\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/time-is-right-to-progress-bill-which-would-reduce-voting-age-to-16\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Press Officer\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/70fcd60661593532616f9f91a0fb8db7\"},\"headline\":\"Time is right to progress Bill which would reduce voting age to 16\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-19T12:42:13+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/time-is-right-to-progress-bill-which-would-reduce-voting-age-to-16\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":250,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/time-is-right-to-progress-bill-which-would-reduce-voting-age-to-16\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/02\\\/SOCIAL-DEMOCRATS-_87.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Aidan Farrelly\",\"Press Release\",\"Youth\"],\"inLanguage\":\"ga-IE\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/time-is-right-to-progress-bill-which-would-reduce-voting-age-to-16\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/time-is-right-to-progress-bill-which-would-reduce-voting-age-to-16\\\/\",\"name\":\"Time is right to progress Bill which would reduce voting age to 16 - Social Democrats\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/time-is-right-to-progress-bill-which-would-reduce-voting-age-to-16\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/time-is-right-to-progress-bill-which-would-reduce-voting-age-to-16\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/02\\\/SOCIAL-DEMOCRATS-_87.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-19T12:42:13+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/time-is-right-to-progress-bill-which-would-reduce-voting-age-to-16\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"ga-IE\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/time-is-right-to-progress-bill-which-would-reduce-voting-age-to-16\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"ga-IE\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/time-is-right-to-progress-bill-which-would-reduce-voting-age-to-16\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/02\\\/SOCIAL-DEMOCRATS-_87.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/02\\\/SOCIAL-DEMOCRATS-_87.jpg\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":1257},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/time-is-right-to-progress-bill-which-would-reduce-voting-age-to-16\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Time is right to progress Bill which would reduce voting age to 16\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/\",\"name\":\"Social Democrats\",\"description\":\"Change Ireland for the better\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"ga-IE\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"The Social Democrats\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"ga-IE\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/09\\\/SocDems-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/09\\\/SocDems-logo.png\",\"width\":846,\"height\":358,\"caption\":\"The Social Democrats\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/socialdemocratsireland\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/SocDems\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/70fcd60661593532616f9f91a0fb8db7\",\"name\":\"Press Officer\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/ga\\\/author\\\/press\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Time is right to progress Bill which would reduce voting age to 16 - Social Democrats","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/time-is-right-to-progress-bill-which-would-reduce-voting-age-to-16\/","og_locale":"ga_IE","og_type":"article","og_title":"Time is right to progress Bill which would reduce voting age to 16 - Social Democrats","og_description":"The results of today\u2019s Global Youth Participation Index show conditions are ripe for the introduction of a reduced voting age, according to Social Democrats children spokesperson Aidan Farrelly. Deputy Farrelly said: \u201cIreland has ranked 18th out of over 140 countries worldwide in terms of youth participation in political, economic and civic life – those aged […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/time-is-right-to-progress-bill-which-would-reduce-voting-age-to-16\/","og_site_name":"Social Democrats","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/socialdemocratsireland","article_published_time":"2025-06-19T12:42:13+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1920,"height":1257,"url":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/SOCIAL-DEMOCRATS-_87.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Press Officer","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@SocDems","twitter_site":"@SocDems","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Press Officer","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/time-is-right-to-progress-bill-which-would-reduce-voting-age-to-16\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/time-is-right-to-progress-bill-which-would-reduce-voting-age-to-16\/"},"author":{"name":"Press Officer","@id":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/#\/schema\/person\/70fcd60661593532616f9f91a0fb8db7"},"headline":"Time is right to progress Bill which would reduce voting age to 16","datePublished":"2025-06-19T12:42:13+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/time-is-right-to-progress-bill-which-would-reduce-voting-age-to-16\/"},"wordCount":250,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/time-is-right-to-progress-bill-which-would-reduce-voting-age-to-16\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/SOCIAL-DEMOCRATS-_87.jpg","articleSection":["Aidan Farrelly","Press Release","Youth"],"inLanguage":"ga-IE"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/time-is-right-to-progress-bill-which-would-reduce-voting-age-to-16\/","url":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/time-is-right-to-progress-bill-which-would-reduce-voting-age-to-16\/","name":"Time is right to progress Bill which would reduce voting age to 16 - Social Democrats","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/time-is-right-to-progress-bill-which-would-reduce-voting-age-to-16\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/time-is-right-to-progress-bill-which-would-reduce-voting-age-to-16\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/SOCIAL-DEMOCRATS-_87.jpg","datePublished":"2025-06-19T12:42:13+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/time-is-right-to-progress-bill-which-would-reduce-voting-age-to-16\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"ga-IE","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/time-is-right-to-progress-bill-which-would-reduce-voting-age-to-16\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"ga-IE","@id":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/time-is-right-to-progress-bill-which-would-reduce-voting-age-to-16\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/SOCIAL-DEMOCRATS-_87.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/SOCIAL-DEMOCRATS-_87.jpg","width":1920,"height":1257},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/time-is-right-to-progress-bill-which-would-reduce-voting-age-to-16\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Time is right to progress Bill which would reduce voting age to 16"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/","name":"Social Democrats","description":"Change Ireland for the better","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"ga-IE"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/#organization","name":"The Social Democrats","url":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"ga-IE","@id":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/SocDems-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/SocDems-logo.png","width":846,"height":358,"caption":"The Social Democrats"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/socialdemocratsireland","https:\/\/x.com\/SocDems"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/#\/schema\/person\/70fcd60661593532616f9f91a0fb8db7","name":"Press Officer","url":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/ga\/author\/press\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12780","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12780"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12780\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11557"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}