Do you vote? A very simple question but it offers several answers. Leaving who you vote for aside (the topic that causes most debate!) the actual electorate as a rule fall into three categories, those who always vote, those who vote depending on the type of election or issue and those who never vote.

The Importance Of Voting
I will never be able to understand the mentality of those who chose not to vote. I use the word 'choose' because in this democratic state In which we live that's what its all about - choice. But the choice not to vote reflects poorly on the persons who decide not to do so. They are effectively saying they do not care who is running their lives. The decisions made by the politicians that you do or do not vote for affect your everyday life. Harsh words you may say, but remember that it is only quite recently that Irish citizens won the right to vote for their own governments. Another few facts to remember: it is illegal not to vote in some countries. On the other hand, over half the world's population either doesn't have the right to vote at all, or they vote in the knowledge that the outcome may be rigged or it may not be even recognised.

A Critical Referendum Coming Up
In my humble opinion, the next time we vote in an internal referendum in this country will be one of the most important referenda we will ever vote in. It is about removing Articles 2 and 3 from our Constitution.

Articles 2 and 3
This referendum will seek to change or amend Articles 2 and 3 of Section One of Bunreacht na hÉireann which read as follows:

Article 2: The national territory consists of the whole island of Ireland, its islands and territorial seas.

Article 3: Pending the reintegration of the national territory, and without prejudice to the right of the Parliament and Government established by this constitution to exercise jurisdiction over the whole of that territory, the laws enacted by that parliament shall have the like area and extent of application as the laws of Saorstát Éireann and the extraterritorial effect.

Articles 2 and 3 read well to a Nationalist. But through Unionist eyes they pose a huge threat. Why change it at all? In the Republic, people can sometimes be quite blasé about the Northern situation because of saturation coverage on the subject, and the 'up there' factor, but in Northern Ireland Articles 2 and 3 mean something completely different. To the Nationalists, they are constitutional clauses that keep their hopes of a reunified Ireland alive. To Unionists, these clauses deny their right to be British since Northern Ireland is at present part of the United Kingdom.

Deft Maneuvering Required by Bertie
The Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, will have to become a top class tightrope walker, escapologist and salesman in order to sell this referendum to the people. John Bruton must be overjoyed by the fact that he isn't the present Taoiseach for he would have extreme difficulty in selling it to Fianna Fáil. The Republican Parties aside, the Irish people in general will not be easily persuaded to give up a constitutional claim to what a majority would say is, by historical right, part of their country. But we must remember a few things in the run-up to this referendum. At the end of the day, Articles 2 and 3 have not protected the Nationalist in the North over the last thirty years in any way, so if this deal gives the government a foothold in the door of Northern politics and policies, it may be worthwhile. The Taoiseach is also faced with the problem of getting his own party, Fianna Fáil, to present a united face on the subject of Articles 2 and 3 since this is where some would say Fianna Fáil's soul as a nationalist party lies. If these articles were to change would Fianna Fáil have to redefine itself?

Conflicting Objectives in the North
The situation within the North of Ireland is an extremely complex one. The Nationalists want equality, their right to be in, and accepted in, any North/South body without suffering under a Unionist veto all the time and their right to be Irish citizens. The Unionists want to have an assembly consisting of a Northern Assembly, the Oireachtas, the British Parliament and the future parliaments of Scotland and Wales, but at the same time asking the Republic to give up its territorial claim on the North. As well as the fact that that some of the politicians in the North have been there since Seán Lemass was Taoiseach in the Republic! Old points of view that will be very hard to change. What it boils down to is an academic and constitutional nightmare. The only shot fired across the bows of the Northern talks was by Foreign Affairs Minister David Andrews when he said that if the referendum failed in either the Republic or Northern Ireland 'The total package collapses'. Strong talk, but maybe that is what is needed to get people to focus on the very serious task at hand.

An awful lot of questions will need balanced answers and there will be people just waiting to decipher every word looking for the down side. As the April 5th talks deadline approaches, a lot of late-night talking, dealing and political maneuvering will take place in trying to find a solution. The violence of the mindless idiots will probably escalate as the talks draw to a close. So expect the news to be full of stories in the weeks ahead on the outcome of the Northern talks and the upcoming referendum on Section 2 and 3 which probably won't take place before May 22nd. The underlying need is to try and keep peace in Northern Ireland until some type of settlement is fixed in place to stabilise the situation.

Do Your Bit
The politicians whom we vote for are the people who carry out the often thankless task of running of the country and the 'bigger picture'. These are the people who guard our Constitution and when they decide to try and change or amend it, they must put it to the electorate first and that is where we as a democratic people with the right to vote count. We live in interesting times and maybe we will be the generation that finds a solution to Ireland's dark and turbulent historical problems. Remember we live in a country that as a Democracy is a very young one, which recently has been rocked to its foundations by scandals in our Church, political, health, business and banking structures. So as this country cleans out the old and brings in the new at the turn of the new millennium I hope that it will also include a permanent peace within our country. We, as the electorate, do have a say in how we want things done, so the next time the ballot box comes your way for whatever reason remember your voice is your vote. As we approach the millennium there are many people in a lot of countries killing each other to win that basic right. VOTE AND COUNT.

Simon Murray