Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

In regard to the very successful visit of President Joe Biden, there are times when visits such as this cause us all to reflect on the extraordinary power of our global Irish community. This is something we celebrate, and rightly so. The Minister and myself have had a real, in-depth experience of encountering and working with that power and that community in so many different locations throughout this planet. However, we are hopelessly out of step when we seek to support our citizens in electing our first citizen - that person who best embodies who we are as a people, our President. We are hopelessly out of step with other countries in giving our citizens the right, no matter where they live on this planet, to elect our first citizen. When is it planned to hold that referendum that has been committed to in the programme for Government? It is about time that we give recognition to those of our citizens, including those who live on this island and cannot exercise that right either.

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