Mary urges 'No' Vote in upcoming referendum

Former Minister Mary O’Rourke said today (Wednesday, 11th September) that she was urging people to Vote No in the forthcoming referendum to ensure that the Seanad vote was extended to every Irish citizen.
 
Mrs O’Rourke was speaking in Athlone where she led a team of volunteers from the Democracy Matters campaign group on a canvass in the town to encourage people to vote NO in the forthcoming Seanad Referendum. Mrs O’Rourke was joined on the two hour canvass by Labour Party Senators John Whelan (Co.Laois) and John Kelly (Co. Roscommon)  and former Senator Joe O’Toole.
 
The event is part of Democracy Matters nationwide canvass campaign.  Democracy Matters is an independent broad based group of individuals from across Irish society who are campaigning to retain and reform Seanad Éireann.
Mrs O’Rourke said: “I am urging people to vote No so that every single Irish citizen will have a vote in future Seanad elections.  I think that would be a wonderful thing and it would make our politics more democratic and more representative.  Seanad abolition will take away the people’s right to an effective, productive and reformed Seanad, which is within our grasp and can be swiftly brought about by means of simple legislation.  By voting No people can show their support for a new, reformed Seanad in which everybody will have a stake.”
 
She said that that the Government’s referendum was a cynical attempt to gazump a progressive package of political reforms which would give everyone a say in how the Seanad should be elected.
 
Referring to the Quinn-Zappone Bill, which has already passed through second stage in the Seanad, she said: “We are campaigning in support of a new Seanad in which, for the first time ever, every single person on this island, North and South, will be able to vote.  We also want to see the Seanad vote extended to our emigrants, many of whom have been forced out of the country because of the ill-effects of the economic collapse.  Nobody wants to see the current elitist arrangement continue where the Seanad is elected by politicians and graduates of a number of universities.  What a No vote can ensure is that all Irish people will be able to cast their ballot in a Seanad election.” 
 
Mrs O’Rourke said that she was delighted to be joined on the canvass in Athlone by Labour Senators, John Whelan and John Kelly.  She said that the issue of Seanad Reform was more important than party politics and it was about standing up for democracy and accountability.
 
“Rather than crudely abolishing an integral part of our parliament, we need to take this opportunity to reform it”, she said. “A new Seanad Éireann will enhance our democracy, it will give people another voice in the Oireachtas and it has the potential to make a sizeable contribution to the challenges facing our country.    A No vote will give a strong mandate to a credible reform agenda”.