YOU ARE NEVER TOO OLD?

In late 2011 Ireland will go to the polls to elect a new President of the Republic and as it stands with the field of candidates the average age is 60. The average age of the previous eight Presidents since Douglas Hyde to Mary McAleese has been 62 years old. But as our Republic aged since the Easter Rising the age of our leaders has steadily increased. Padraig Pearse was just 36 years old when he led the new Irish Republic in 1916. The average age of the men who signed the Proclamation was 39. The average of the men who sacrificed their lives for their nation and were executed in 1916 was 38. The average of the leaders of the Rising Pearse, McDonagh, Clarke, Plunkett, Ceannt, McDermott, Connolly, Willie Pearse, Daly, O'Hanrahan, McBride, Mallin, Colbert, Heuston, Kent, Casement, DeValera, The Countess, Ashe, Mellows, Collins, Mulcahy and Brugha was just 36 years old. Michael Collins was 32 years old when he led a new nation while Enda Kenny was 60 when he took charge. Why is there no trust in youth? Why must a citizen be 70 before he is elected to high office? Is it any wonder that the youth of the nation feel isolated and disenfranchised by a different generation.