Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Professor Harvey hit on something, namely the Good Friday Agreement and what exactly it encompasses in legal terms. It strikes me as extremely surprising that somebody living on the island can hold an Irish passport but not have a vote. That is something that perhaps needs pretty rapid investigation. Without extending the vote to the wider diaspora, if a person on the island of Ireland carries a passport he or she should be entitled to vote in at least a presidential election, irrespective of the issue of distrust that was raised. We cannot second-guess what an electorate would do or how any citizen in the North of Ireland, irrespective of his or her colour, would vote. Nothing is certain in that regard.

I am inclined to agree with my colleague. I am not sure a referendum would be needed to extend the vote across the Border. I am not legally qualified, unlike Mr. Basset. Perhaps he would have a view on that.