Professor Colin Harvey:

I referred to an issue a Senator raised regarding the Good Friday Agreement. We need to have a conversation about the language of the Agreement, and whether all of the things we think have been legally tied down in the Good Friday Agreement are in fact legally tied down in both jurisdictions. That is not clear to me. In the past couple of years we have found that things we had perhaps taken for granted in terms of mutual respect and other things are not legally tied down within the UK system in the way we might have thought. That is a matter of urgency that needs to be addressed, whatever discussions are ongoing.

We are very focused, in being respectful of the Constitutional Convention, on the fact that this is about presidential elections. In a sense, we are honouring the convention by taking forward the recommendation and concentrating on it. We are simply pointing out that Ireland would be in step with what is a clear and international trend. We have seen it happening and it can be done.

There is another conversation for a separate day. We want to advance this issue. There is a conversation to be had about voting rights in Ireland in general, including who does or does not get to vote, and who is excluded or included. There has been a discussion around the electoral commission and other things. This is one part of a bigger conversation. We want to focus on advancing this matter now. There is a bigger conversation to be had about voting rights in Ireland.