"There is nothing admirable in not casting your vote." The words are those of David Trimble, but they seem particularly relevant to today's poll in this State.
The UUP leader was speaking to moderate unionist voters, many of whom are likely to stay at home because they support the Belfast Agreement and do not want to vote for a candidate who is opposed to it.
It is ironic that this appeal to exercise the right to vote should have been made in the course of Northern Ireland's general election campaign.
Whatever you may think of politics north of the Border, the problem of apathy does not arise. The election has been fought with energy on all sides.
It's easy, viewed from the comfort of this State, to bemoan the fact that the results of the contest will depend on a sectarian head count.
As we in this State know very well, this is a legacy of history and will take many years to disappear. Believe me, the resolution of conflict through the democratic process, however imperfect it may be, beats what went before.
It also beats what we have been seeing in the rest of these islands: public apathy and a deep cynicism about politicians.
In Britain, Tony Blair is headed for another landslide, yet there is none of the excitement that surrounded New Labour's victory four years ago.
WILLIAM Hague has chosen to fight the Conservative campaign on the most reactionary grounds: a Little England paranoia about Europe, defence of the pound, hostility to asylum-seekers and so on.
In the absence of any real opposition, the liberal press is urging its readers to vote for the Liberal Democrats, as the one party with the moral authority to place some curb on New Labour's arrogance. What used to be considered a wasted vote for a minority party is now seen as a precious commodity that can help to protect the decencies of parliamentary democracy.
In Ireland, a low poll is expected on an issue of major importance for our future. In a recent Irish Times poll, 27 per cent of those questioned about the Nice Treaty described themselves as "don't knows". It seems likely that many of these will turn into "don't cares" and will stay at home.
If that happens, the Government, along with the Opposition parties which favour a Yes vote, will have only themselves to blame. The most notable feature of this campaign has been the dogs that didn't bark. It may well be that the issues of enlargement and expanded markets are remote to the majority of voters. My colleague, Deaglan de Breadun, has made the point strongly that we need a much more serious programme to educate and inform the public about Europe.
But what has been signally lacking from our political leaders is any sense of a vision of Europe which looks beyond the usual fumbling in a greasy till.
One has only to compare the mood of recent days and weeks with what happens in a general election, when Bertie Ahern et al are up every small alley and boreen telling the voters how important it is that they should get out to the polls.
Last weekend I drove from Dublin to Galway and, outside of these two cities, you could have counted the Yes posters on the fingers of two hands.
By contrast, there was a steady display of No posters, evidence of the energy and sense of principle that has characterised the alliance of groups opposed to the treaty.
If one were to judge on the basis of commitment alone, the No side deserves to win hands down.
The Peace and Neutrality Alliance is headed by those who have fought for justice, often in the teeth of public indifference: people such as the Rev Terence McCaughey, Tom Hyland and others. The indefatigable Anthony Coughlan has a record of questioning the conventional pieties of Irish politics and, as important, of demanding that the rest of us do so, too.
I respect these people, not least for the way they have fought this campaign. A coalition of small groups, they have done more to try and provoke a serious debate about the issues than all the major political parties put together.
I don't agree with their arguments and will be voting Yes, but that is by the by. However the various polls turn out, in both parts of this island and across the water in Britain, the most important words have come from David Trimble.
This is the day when, as citizens, we get the chance to influence events. There is nothing admirable in not using one's vote.