Following Labour’s surprisingly strong showing in the 2017 general election, many attributed the party’s breakthrough performance to Jeremy Corbyn’s fabled ability to galvanise younger voters and inspire 18-25 year olds back to the polls. Some boldly proclaimed that these young “Corbynistas” would swing the next election towards the Labour Party, claiming the new generation were effecting a shift of the political debate to the left. However, once the figures were released, it quickly became clear that there has been only a marginal increase in student turnout and there was no evidence of the much-heralded “youthquake”.
The disparity between pre-election polling and the result was more aptly attributed to Theresa May’s robotic and uninspiring campaign than any great political awakening.
That election was simply the latest manifestation of the long-held and commonly accepted maxim that young people don’t vote. It’s hard to put your finger on why this is, the suspicion being that elections are rarely fought by political parties on the issues that affect young people. What is clear however is that the knock-on effects are painfully tangible, from the fact pensions repeatedly top ministerial checklists to an accommodation crisis that disproportionately affects younger people that has not yet been solved. Simply put, politicians often feel there’s no votes to be won pandering to the young.
Just as they did for marriage equality, students turned out in their droves for repeal
The repeal campaign was different. It was the referendum where the long anticipated “youthquake” finally materialised. Repeal was, and had been for most of its history, a movement that truly resonated with younger voters. At the forefront of marches and protests has always been a strong student contingent and Trinity became a regular staging ground for these marches in recent years.
Just as they did for marriage equality, students turned out in their droves for repeal. Abortion rights was an issue more divisive and arguably a harder sell to the Irish electorate, but young people proved that, for the second time in only a matter of years, they were ready to have tough conversations on Ireland’s doorsteps.
It cannot be overstated what a seismic shift in Irish culture is represented by the result of the referendum. But it’s also evidence of the collosal impact that younger voters can have on the political process when they are properly engaged and galvanised.
In the wake of repeal, it is critical that students remain engaged in politics and that the momentum that younger voters built up during the campaign doesn’t dissipate back into apathy. This is a sentiment that was echoed by the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, who issued a rallying cry to younger voters yesterday, urging them to remain involved in politics. He told younger voters there is still “much, much more to do. There is always more to do”.
With the campaign to repeal the eighth amendment now, for the most part, relegated to history, young people must focus on the issues that uniquely and exclusively affect them. The Take Back Trinity campaign proved that higher education funding remains a serious issue, two years after the Cassells Report.
Students, more than any other grouping, have played a pivotal role in generating the seismic shift this country has experienced over the past 20 years
Furthermore, as summer rolls around, the annual fiasco of the student accommodation crisis has kicked into full gear, amid renewed promises to fix it. Meanwhile, rent continues to skyrocket and predatory accommodation providers become more and more prevalent, often supported by third-level institutions themselves. It is now crucial that every activist, canvasser and voter remains engaged to help to push these problems to the forefront of national debate.
Furthermore, as we seek to maintain the momentum generated by those newly engaged with politics, there are numerous lessons to be learned from the way the repeal campaign was run in colleges. Voter drives work, as proven by the high student turnouts for marriage equality and repeal.
In addition, for the past two years TCDSU has expended significant time and energy organising marches, workshops and talks promoting a yes vote. Such overt tactics had the effect of ensuring that students in Trinity really engaged with the issue at hand, sparking lively debate and inspiring significant activism. These methods must be adapted by TCDSU if it is to keep students immersed in politics and activism.
Students, more than any other grouping, have played a pivotal role in generating the seismic shift this country has experienced over the past 20 years. They served in the vanguard of the marriage equality campaign and drove forward repeal. But the time for student activism has not passed. If anything, it’s more important than ever.
