Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)

Last week, the Northern Assembly voted in favour of a motion to extend presidential voting rights to Irish citizens in the North. This sends a powerful democratic message that Irish citizens in the North must be allowed to vote for their first citizen, for their Uachtaráin. For more than a decade, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have promised to make this happen. It has been contained in programmes for Government since 2016, but these commitments have not been honoured. The Assembly vote is a watershed moment and I believe the Government now needs to act with urgency. November's election for President must be the last presidential election that excludes Irish citizens north of the Border from voting. On Thursday, the Tánaiste, Simon Harris, agreed that these rights should be extended. He said that he would engage with the Taoiseach on a Government timeline to make this happen. Has that engagement happened and what is the timeline?

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