Johnny Guirke (Meath West, Sinn Fein)

Presidential voting rights need to be extended to all Irish citizens living in the Thirty-two Counties. It is also important these voting rights are extended to Irish citizens abroad. Last week I hosted Ciaran Staunton of the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform and Karen McHugh of Safe Home Ireland who gave a presentation at a cross-party briefing on issues affecting returning Irish citizens. Many issues they face came up and one of the key ones was voting rights for the Irish living abroad. Former Taoiseach Enda Kenny promised presidential voting rights to the Irish in America during his 2016 St. Patrick’s Day visit to the United States, but no progress has been made on that commitment. After being forced out of the country due to the high cost of living, housing, etc., many Irish citizens feel they should at least have the right to vote in elections, especially the presidential election. In 2013 the constitutional convention recommended extending votes in presidential elections to citizens living outside the Republic of Ireland, a position officially supported by the Government of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. We tabled legislation to give effect to this recommendation in 2014 and the Bill passed First and Second Stages. We have retabled the Bill in every Dáil since.

Sinn Féin is the largest party in the Thirty-two Counties. People in the North have always felt abandoned by the Government in the South. Denying them the right to vote in presidential elections has been another right denied. These citizens are as Irish as you or me. They live on the island yet cannot vote in presidential elections despite being eligible to stand in them, should they receive a nomination. In 2019 the Government set a referendum on extending voting rights to Irish citizens living abroad and in the North, but it was later delayed. Last May in the Assembly a Sinn Féin motion calling for Irish citizens in the North to have the right to vote in presidential elections in the Republic was carried 46 to 25. With so many Irish citizens in the North and all over the world wishing they could vote in the Irish presidential election and Aontú putting on the front it is fighting for people’s right to vote, you would imagine it would encourage people to vote in the upcoming election. Instead Deputy Tóibín has said on the Plinth he may not vote. It sounds a bit hypocritical to me and as usual the party remains on the fence. It is no wonder it is better known as "Abstaintú". Many people died for the right to vote and their sacrifice should never be forgotten.

We acknowledge there are flaws in the electoral process but perhaps the Electoral Commission should be tasked with examining the nomination system in future. In 2011 Sinn Féin did not have enough Members to get Martin McGuinness on the ballot, but we worked with a number of Oireachtas Members to get him nominated. Many people who failed to get on the ballot this time did not even contact the same Oireachtas Members and local authorities they were seeking support from, but when you get bad advice this is what happens. Lots of people around here are saying that if Deputy Tóibín and Aontú were not so close to their candidate-----

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