Officials in Ireland are being creative when it comes to getting the word out about an upcoming referendum in Ireland. Silicon Republic is reporting that the Irish Referendum Commission will launch a Facebook app that will encourage and educate Facebook users about signing up to vote before an upcoming referendum on the European Fiscal Treaty.

The Referendum Commission is hoping to use the social network aspect of Facebook to pass the information along. The app will walk users through the steps of checking the register to make sure they are registered to vote, and signing them up if they are not. After that, users can share the fact that they used the app and encourage their friends to do so as well. Silicon Republic quotes the chairman of the Referendum Comission, Mr. Justice Kevin Feeney, as saying:

“It is particularly useful that users of this app can, with one click, tell all their Facebook friends about this and spread the word that they can check the register in a matter of seconds in this way. Every Irish citizen aged 18 or over on polling day is entitled to vote.”

It’s smart for the Irish government to realize that not everyone will see a traditional advertising campaign. It’s possible that the commission saw how ineffective their fall advertising campaign was for some demographics, and decided to look at other options. That campaign relied on television commercials, such as this one, featuring a lovely accent:

What do you think? Is the Irish government more technologically savvy than other western democracies, or will they simply be laughed off of Facebook? Leave a comment below and let me know.

(Silicon Republic via AllFacebook)