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Referendum on Emigrants voting in Presidential Elections. March 13, 2017

Posted by irishelectionliterature in Uncategorized.
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1. Jack Jameson - March 13, 2017

It’s not just about emigrants, as my friends in the North have been quick to point out.

It’s about Irish citizens living in our Fourth Green Field too.

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2. GW - March 13, 2017

I don’t understand – is there a referendum planned?

All I see is a blank post.

If so great. First the President then the Dáil. I might finally get my right to vote anywhere back.

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WorldbyStorm - March 13, 2017

Me too. Not sure what’s happened here.

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3. irishelectionliterature - March 13, 2017

Whoops, wont be using my phone again. (Broadband gone at home so used my phone). Had some text but it didn’t appear.

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4. sonofstan - March 13, 2017

Obviously for this, but I can see issues – our (relatively) liberal right to citizenship means there must already be, and there will be more, people with Irish passports who have never lived in the country. should there be a time limit? You can vote if you’re not more than 10 years gone?
I’d love the idea of expat Dail seats though: “and we’re just waiting for the result of the 10th count in NW Europe….”

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Aonrud ⚘ - March 13, 2017

I can’t see any good argument for not having a time limit. Otherwise, it breaks the role of citizenship as (on whatever level) a participation in the state.

You mention Dáil elections. Since they cut the dole for under 25s and started sending them job ads in Canada, those people should have a right to challenge that fairly deliberate policy of emigration at subsequent elections.

But extending the vote for presidential elections is an odd one. It can be wider, since it’s a more symbolic vote, but at the same time it’s by-passing the more substantive issue of voting rights in elections and referenda.

As to someone who has never lived in Ireland, or is 10 or 20 years elsewhere, is there really a reasonable case?

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5. roddy - March 13, 2017

UUP MP Tom Eliott has just declared that he “will not allow” polling stations to be set up in the North for any future presidential election.I wish some of you would come up here for a while to see what we have to put up with.The Brookeborough mindset is alive and well.

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6. sonofstan - March 13, 2017

Taking, for the sake of argument, the figure of 15% of those born in ireland no longer living there – saw it quoted somewhere – that amounts to c900,000 . Add, conservatively, 300,000 in the North who hold Irish passports and you have a potential extra electorate the size of Dublin. That would scare the shit out of the civil war twins, that would, if you let them vote in Dail elections or referenda.

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7. roddy - March 13, 2017

I only hold a passport intermittently.My present one is 5 years out of date and many people I know never had one.THE thing is ,hundreds of thousands of us are as “Irish” as anybody south of the border and should’nt need a passport to confirm this.

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sonofstan - March 13, 2017

Yes, sorry, didn’t mean to imply that. Just taking it as a very conservative estimate of likely voters in such a scenario. No reason there couldn’t be the entire assembly electorate of course

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Jolly Red Giant - March 14, 2017

Just to remind you roddy – I am still waiting for you to justify SF’s decision not to support the proposal to abolish the 14 year prison sentence for a woman who has an abortion.

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