merrion street

The Minister for Education & Skills, Ruairí Quinn T.D. is calling on parents and students in particular to vote in the Children’s Referendum this Saturday 10th November.

This is the first time that a referendum vote has taken place on a Saturday and means that no school in the country has had to close in order for voting to take place.

More than 1,900 schools, the majority of which are primary schools, are designated polling stations across the country. This means that when voting takes place during a weekday, hundreds of thousands of children are given the day off school and many families are inconvenienced.

“For many families where both parents work, voting during the week means they have to make alternative plans for child care. I actively lobbied my cabinet colleagues for voting to take place on a Saturday to ensure as little disruption as possible to our schools. I’m appealing to parents to ensure a good turn-out on Saturday to secure future polling on weekends,” said Minister Quinn.

Minister Quinn continued, “Students have been calling for Saturday voting for years so that they can return to their homes from their university or college to cast their vote. This government has listened to them and it is particularly important that the 160,000 third level students also show their support by casting their vote on Saturday.”