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Distributed to Congress by Irish National Caucus
“Attached is a good explanation of an issue is that not too well understood.”—Fr. Sean McManus
Extending Irish presidential voting rights to north is a no-brainer
A referendum on extending the vote in presidential elections to Irish
citizens living outside the Republic appears likely to be held this year.
Brian Feeney. Irish News. Belfast. Wednesday, June 26, 2019
In March the taoiseach announced that there will be a constitutional
referendum on presidential voting rights to extend the franchise to all
Irish citizens living outside the state [Irish Republic/26 Counties]. It’s
likely the referendum will take place in October.
It’s worth looking at the implications and dealing with the detail because you
may not know anything about any of that.
Certainly you wouldn’t [know] from watching BBCNI or UTV which has cut its
political coverage to the bone.
First, the recommendation to extend voting rights emerged from the 2013
Convention on the Constitution which voted 78 per cent to extend rights to
vote in presidential elections to non-residents of the
state. Needless to say Enda Kenny, who knew and cared as little about The
North as he did about the dark side of the moon, did nothing about
it. He certainly didn’t want any change for the 2018 election. It was
safe enough to leave any action on the recommendation to his
successor so that there’d be no change until the 2025 election.
The reality is that the proposal is a minor constitutional change which
would bring Ireland in line with the majority of states in the world and
certainly those in the EU. Ireland is one of only three states in the
EU which elect presidents but don’t allow citizens outside the state to
vote: the others are Slovakia and Cyprus. Generally, giving the vote
to non-resident citizens is now regarded as developing democracy. It also
gives a meaning to citizenship more than simply available through
sport or cultural activities.
Not extending the franchise creates bizarre anomalies. For example, in the
2003 all-Ireland between Tyrone and Armagh the two teams lined out in
Croke Park as the captains introduced the President Mary
McAleese before over 80,000 spectators. Everyone present on the pitch was
an Irish citizen but no one in either team could vote for the
president: ridiculous.
The president represents the citizenry or the nation, not the state in its
territorial concept. The present incumbent, Michael D Higgins, said in his
inaugural speech that he would represent all citizens. That has
always applied to the presidency. It’s right that the system of election
should match that obligation.
Objections to the extension of the franchise are made mainly from
a position of ignorance. The most spurious objection is the cry,
‘no taxation without representation’. The president has nothing to do
with taxation or any other function of the Oireachtas when it comes to
law making. All the president can do is refer a bill to the Supreme
Court which decides.
Some, particularly in the south, talk about being swamped by ‘external’
voters. Practice and experience elsewhere shows that’s unlikely. A paper
by the Oireachtas Library Research Service in February this year
concluded there is, ‘a low to remote risk’ of the estimated 3.6 million
overseas voters (yes, that’s all) swamping the 3.2 million living in
the Republic. One of the reasons it’s ‘low to remote’ is that in the many
other countries – the majority in the world – with non-resident
voters, most don’t register and most don’t vote. At least they have the
right and the option to exercise it.
The biggest turnout of non-residents would be likely in The North with its
1.87 million citizens. No, you don’t need an Irish passport. Everyone born
in The North has automatic right to Irish citizenship. However a
substantial chunk of the 1.87 million are Unionists, many of whom wouldn’t
vote.
Unfortunately, because all Irish citizens can’t participate
in referendums, you’ll just have to be a spectator as residents in
the Republic go to vote on whether you can vote for president in
2025. So far all the main parties in The South are supporting the
referendum. If it passes, and it should, one consequence will be that
both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael will have to organise in the north to
promote their candidates for president. All Ireland politics.
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