Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Professor Harvey and Mr. Bassett are more than welcome and I thank them for coming. They have destroyed my ambitions to become Uachtarán na hÉireann because, if the diaspora were to be included, the €1 million I believed I would need to win a presidential election would become €1 billion.

Professor Harvey has made the point that to do this we need to take the matter off the political agenda and move it beyond party political issues. She is correct. If this is ever to happen, it will have to be taken away from the political parties and driven by the Independents. My colleague, Senator Billy Lawless, is pushing this agenda all the time, but the truth of the matter is that we live in a very political state. In a nutshell, there is a great fear that if we allowed the diaspora to vote in presidential elections, for example, those political entities with the greatest representation in the United States, for example, would take every election for the foreseeable future. Therefore, there will be natural resistance to extending the franchise beyond the island of Ireland.

Let us go back to the issue of Northern Ireland. Every citizen in Northern Ireland, apart from the 100,000 expats who are British and not entitled to an Irish passport, is entitled to an Irish passport. I very much favour the view that if one holds an Irish passport, one should be entitled to vote in the presidential election, at least. I acknowledge Deputy Declan Breathnach's point, however, in that we have great difficulty in getting people to vote, even in local elections. How the implementation of the proposal could change the political landscape here remains to be seen.

I accept the delegates' point on equal rights for citizens in the election of a President. and I do not have a difficulty with it. I also accept the point on our being very residentially minded in our view of those who are entitled to vote. If one is resident in the Twenty-six Counties, one can vote and if one is not, one cannot, with the exception of personnel on service overseas who have a postal vote. Nobody else I know of overseas has the right to vote.

Professor Harvey mentioned European law. If somebody were to explore it, where would he or she go with it? On what legislation would he or she rely regarding the right to vote in any election on this island?

My final question is for Mr. Bassett. I refer to the notion of electing the President through the diaspora or anyone who can claim to be Irish or is the holder of an Irish passport. To me, it makes perfect sense, but I understand what Deputy Declan Breathnach is talking about. I was not joking when I said that to get to the diaspora, a potential candidate would need to have substantial funds available. Canvassing in the United States alone would cost an absolute fortune. That will be the main point that will militate against extending the vote beyond the island of Ireland. What European legislation is being relied on? I would like an answer to that question.

Are we talking about the island of Ireland which is one problem, or are we talking about the entire diaspora? If we are talking about the latter, do the delegates envisage election results being slanted by those with political representation outside the State? I would like an answer to my question on the financial aspect of trying to elect somebody from among the diaspora? Some 70 million people now claim to be Irish. That would be a problem.