Will it be a No from the East?

By Grace Campbell and Kate Manning

The upcoming Lisbon Treaty referendum gives young people a second opportunity to voice their opinion on Ireland's relationship going forward with Europe. The result of the referendum is not a foregone conclusion as recent opinion polls have shown. Young people in the East constituency chose their MEPs back in June and now have to make another trip back to the polling booth. Three young people from the East share their reasons as to why they are voting No on October 2nd:

Peter, who is 21 years of age and in college, is adamant that he is voting no in the referendum. "I don't know why we have to go through all of this again," said Peter. "The Irish people voted, they chose no and that decision should be respected. It's as if the government will keep making us vote until we eventually say yes and I believe that is completely unfair." Although Peter believes the second referendum should not be taking place he will exercise his vote regardless. "I think it's important for me to vote, otherwise the yes campaign will win if everyone who shares my opinion doesn't bother to fill out their ballot paper," he said.

Heather is a 23 year old from Meath who recently finished college and has had no success in securing employment so far. "The government says that by agreeing to the Lisbon Treaty that more jobs will be created but I feel they are only saying this in order to push the treaty through. There is no concrete evidence that saying Yes or No to Lisbon will guarantee jobs to anyone so I don't know why this is being used as part of the campaign," she said. Heather has not fully decided which way to vote but is currently swayed towards voting No. "I'm probably taking my anger out on the government by voting against them but I'm just fed up of the situation I'm in and find it very hard to agree with any decisions they make."

John is 20 years of age and has the same opinion as Heather. He is in the workforce and has discussed the pros and cons of the Lisbon Treaty with fellow work colleagues in Kildare. "There definitely has been a lot more effort this time around with informing the public about what the Lisbon Treaty has to offer but I'm not convinced that Lisbon will benefit Ireland and I think the Yes campaign is completely exaggerating the benefits of passing it," said John. "I know Ireland's relationship with Europe is important but there are other domestic issues that should be resolved first."

The next few weeks will see both campaigns for and against the Treaty come into full swing. Informing yourself about the Lisbon Treaty is key. Whatever your decision is, make sure you use your vote on October 2nd.