No posters out gunning the Yeses with young voters (and non voters)…

As one exhausted Yes campaigner might have said, “why does the devil have all the best tunes?” Certainly, the Yes campaign posters are all pretty bland and distant. There is no clear messaging, other than Yes, Yes, Yes… Of the Nos I’ve seen, this is my personal favourite… who could beat a strapline that goes “Would you buy a second hand Treaty from these chancers…” It’s an ad man’s dream.. Harry McGee followed JOhn Gormley to St Louis High School in Rathmines… where in their mock referendum the all girls school voted No by 65 per cent to 35 per cent:

Sharon Muldoon, the teacher in charge of transition year, said that students had found the language in the referendum booklet very legalistic.

“Because the language of the No campaign is very simple, they are more inclined to believe the No campaign rather than Yes,” she said. The No posters had caught their eyes and their views could also inform those of their parents.

Sinéad Slattery, a 15-year-old transition year student said that teenagers were more conscious of the direct No posters and their messages than the general messages of Yes voters.

“The heart-shaped No posters appeal to people of my age group. They are much more aware of it. The Yes posters have been very bland.” She said that she did not believe that younger people had been given enough reason to vote Yes to date.

Apart from the fact that demographically the most Eurosceptic groups were women and young people, it points to the fact that no one in the Yes camp had sat down and thought about their grand narrative(s) before putting the second proposition in front of an electorate, of whom more than 90% voted for the YES camp parties just three months ago…

That’s got to say something about the general state of politics in Ireland… The fact that it is easier to rip something apart than build it up, should only have made more urgent that task of preparation…