Mr. Domhnall McGlacken-Byrne:

The first question was how to transmit the energy generated this year. Having an online modality is very obvious and urgent and I echo the comment that there was absolute bafflement that it could not be done online. That makes very little sense for someone who is digitally native. The Electoral Act was passed before I was born, before the advent of the Internet and before third level education levels ballooned as they have over the past two decades. We need to update our system to reflect the times.

In response to the question about the date of a referendum, there are pros and cons to having it on a Friday or Saturday, for example, many people go home on a Saturday, if they study in Trinity. I go home every weekend to work but I live in Wicklow. The key is consistency and telling people the referendum will be on a Friday and they should be where they need to be.

As a throwaway remark, if there was an online centralised register, people could vote anywhere. There would be problems to tease out but it is strange that a person cannot walk into a polling station with a passport, state his or her name and citizenship and ask to vote there. The mass exodus of people going home reminded me of Herod’s census in the Bible. Surely there is a more efficient way than having thousands of people moving around the country on referendum day. Maybe that is not feasible but the key issue is a consistent date.