Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)

I move:

That Dáil Éireann:

notes that: — the 1998 Good Friday Agreement recognises the birthright of all the people of Northern Ireland to identify themselves, and be accepted as, Irish or British, or both; and

— the Fifth Report of the Convention on the Constitution - Amending the Constitution to give citizens resident outside the State the right to vote in Presidential elections at Irish embassies, or otherwise, published in November 2013, recommended that citizens resident outside the State should have the right to vote in Presidential elections; further notes that: — the Northern Ireland Assembly recently passed a motion to support extending the right to vote in Presidential elections to all Irish citizens resident on the island of Ireland; and

— the Thirty-Fourth Amendment of the Constitution (Presidential Voting) Bill 2014, passed second stage in the Dáil on 11th March, 2014, and is currently on the Dáil Business Digital Order Paper Website awaiting the Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage to schedule a time to allow it to progress at the Committee Stage; and calls on the Government to: — implement the recommendations of the Fifth Report of the Convention on the Constitution, and to extend voting rights in Presidential elections to all Irish citizens on the island of Ireland; and

— progress proposals that would extend the right to vote in Presidential elections to the diaspora.

The President of Ireland is President for all the people of Ireland. The Office of Uachtarán na hÉireann embodies the shared values, hopes and vision of our citizens, not just here in this State but in the North and indeed across the world. The President is President not just for the Twenty-six Counties but for the entire Irish nation, regardless of the separation imposed upon us by partition or by the scourges of famine, oppression and economic hardship that scattered generations to the four corners of the globe. It is a matter of some injustice and a violation of democracy that Irish citizens in the Six Counties and those living abroad are denied the right to vote for their Uachtarán. Every seven years, when the presidential election rolls around, Irish citizens from the North and those living overseas are told by the political establishment that they are less Irish, forced to accept second-class status, alienated from the nation to which they belong. The Sam Maguire currently resides in Armagh, yet the players who proudly lifted that historic cup last July in Croke Park, and indeed the supporters who cheered them on, will not be permitted to vote in November. You can be a champion of all Ireland yet be prevented from voting for the President of Ireland. You can also be a candidate for the Office of President but if you reside in Derry, as did Martin McGuinness, you are not allowed a vote. You can even win the election and become President of Ireland but because you are from Belfast, as was President Mary McAleese, you are barred from voting for yourself.

Citizens from all corners of Ireland who emigrated, many from generations who left due to economic turmoil in search of work, and young people today forced out because of the housing crisis love their country. They have a stake in its future. However, they too are denied their vote for President. It is this democratic exclusion that our Bill seeks to end by implementing the 2013 recommendation of the constitutional convention, a recommendation which states that citizens resident outside the State should have the right to vote in presidential elections. That was 12 years ago - delay. In 2014, our legislation providing for the extension of presidential voting rights passed Second Stage in the Dáil. That was 11 years ago - delay. A referendum had been set for May 2019 but it was postponed by the Government. That was six years ago - delay. For more than a decade, both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have promised to extend presidential voting rights but nothing has happened. The commitment has even been dropped from the current programme for Government.

This Government inertia cannot be allowed to continue. In May the Northern Assembly historically voted to support the extension of presidential voting rights to citizens in the North. That was a powerful democratic message, one which reaffirms the principle of equality enshrined in the Good Friday Agreement. The Government must now act on this positive momentum. I welcome that the Tánaiste has recently indicated that he is supportive of the principle and his further commitment to engage with Government colleagues, including the Taoiseach, on this matter. Can the Minister of State tell the Dáil if those engagements have happened and what was the substance of them? Delay is no longer acceptable. It was never acceptable. What we need now, finally, is a clear timeline from the Government and a date for the holding of the referendum. Caithfear cead a thabhairt do shaoránaigh na hÉireann ó Thuaidh, agus iad siúd atá ina gcónaí thar lear, vóta a chaitheamh dá gcéad saoránach, dá nUachtarán. Caithfidh an Rialtas dáta a shocrú do reifreann.

I look forward to the day when partition is ended and Ireland is united, when all Irish citizens at home and abroad are afforded their full democratic rights. Those barriers and the partitionist mindset that created them will not fall of their own accord. We must dismantle them piece by piece. The President of Ireland is a President for all the people of Ireland. November's election must be the last presidential election that excludes citizens in the North and those living abroad, who so deeply love this country.

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