Ciarán Ahern (Dublin South West, Labour)

My thanks to Aontú for bringing forward this timely motion. The role of the President has of course changed somewhat in recent decades. The President has essential constitutional duties to fulfil but there is a wider significance to the Head of State's role that is not set out in Bunreacht na hÉireann, although it has nonetheless come to be a central aspect of it. I am referring to the role of acting as a first citizen, of unifying and representing the Irish people at home and abroad and of the role of being a voice for the Irish people. That aspect has grown in significance through the active presidencies of Mary Robinson, Mary McAleese and Michael D. Higgins, all of whom carried out their role with distinction. It is correct, therefore, we pause from time to time to take stock of how best our electoral system can function in support of a Presidency which itself has evolved and will continue to evolve with our society and with our politics. I appreciate this motion is prompting us to do so and there are elements of it I agree with and others I do not.

I will begin with the elements I agree with. Most pertinent is the extension of the franchise in presidential elections to Irish citizens in the North. We debated this issue not too long ago and my position has not changed in the intervening few months. The motion references the Convention on the Constitution. The convention was established by the Labour Party when we were in government and its fifth report, which was published in November 2013, recommended Irish citizens resident outside the State should have the right to vote in presidential elections. This would of course include those citizens born and living in the North. Many of the recommendations arising out of that convention have been acted on 12 years later, but this issue remains outstanding despite several commitments from different Governments since then. The Fine Gael Government of 2016 to 2020, which was supported by Fianna Fáil, committed to holding a referendum on extending the franchise for presidential elections to citizens living abroad. The then Taoiseach Enda Kenny reaffirmed that commitment on a St. Patrick’s Day trip to the US in 2017. Leo Varadkar announced in 2019 he was postponing such a referendum at the upcoming local and European elections until later in the year, but it was never taken up again. It is quite incredible that in the 12 years since the Fifth Report of the Convention on the Constitution virtually nothing has been done to advance this really key recommendation. Labour supports the holding of a referendum on extending the franchise to citizens in the North and further afield.

However, when we debated this issue back in June, I made the point that an extensive amount of preparatory work needed to be done in advance, such as arranging for voter registration for citizens in the North, working out the voting method and the costs and resources required, ensuring the security of the ballot and so on. None of this is straightforward. We need to take lessons from the recent referenda with regard to preparation and groundwork ahead of holding any referendum like this.

Other issues that need to be addressed in advance include whether the right to vote should be restricted to those born on the island of Ireland, those with citizenship or simply passport holders. The Labour Party supports citizenship as the condition for eligibility. As I said previously, establishing a special Oireachtas committee would be a good first step in addressing those questions and others. It could tease out these issues, get into the nuts and bolts of how voting would work, provide a roadmap for implementation and make substantive recommendations. The committee hearings would also play an important role in informing the public debate, as we saw during the repeal referendum. Rushing the constitutional amendment through without carrying out substantial work on the wording or heeding the recommendations of such an Oireachtas committee, should it be set up, is exactly what happened last year with the failed referendums. We risk setting a referendum up for failure if we do not take these preparatory steps. The Labour Party supports holding a referendum to extend the franchise in presidential elections to citizens in the North, but I also warn against going into it without having done the extensive and detailed planning work required.

A separate issue in the motion concerns a loosening of the nomination requirements to get on the ballot paper for our presidential election. We cannot ignore the fact that many people in this country feel they are not represented by either candidate in the ongoing presidential campaign. That is a legitimate position to hold. It is an issue coming up on the doors as I have been canvassing in recent weeks. We can all agree with the sentiment outlined in the motion that a competition of diverse values and ideas is good for democracy. Indeed, healthy and good-spirited debate is the very essence of our democracy.

With that being said, however, one issue I have with the motion is the line that states, "the Constitution and the law set out the nomination process by Oireachtas members, County Councils, and the nomination by an incumbent, and these rules make it difficult for a prospective candidate to get onto the ballot paper". We need to remember that we are talking about the highest office in the land. From my perspective, it should not be easy to get on the ballot paper. It should not be the case that a person simply decides to run for the Presidency one day and he or she can expect that to be facilitated with no questions asked. No one is entitled to receive a nomination. People should be required to do the hard yards. Whatever people’s thoughts are on either candidate left in the presidential race, there can be little doubt that both of them have dedicated years of their lives to public service. I am deeply uncomfortable with the idea that someone should be entitled to get on the ballot paper on the basis of their celebrity, online following or personal wealth, which would allow them to put a large amount of money behind a campaign. The requirements for getting on the ballot in a presidential election, particularly the nomination by 20 Oireachtas Members, have been the case since our Constitution was written and enacted in 1937. Leaving aside the 1938 presidential election in which Douglas Hyde was elected unopposed, given the ever-increasing number of Members in this House, in terms of the percentage of Members’ nominations required, it has actually become easier to get on the ballot paper.

I am open to the conversation around reforming the nomination process. As I said, we must acknowledge those who feel unrepresented by having only two candidates in this race. Equally, however, we must maintain high standards and a high bar for those seeking a nomination. The Office of the President deserves that level of respect. It is not something we should treat lightly. These issues around the nomination process and voting rights might be best served by a short, time-limited citizens’ assembly.

I also have some difficulty with the suggestion that an incumbent should be able to nominate a candidate because it risks politicising the Office of the President. If someone could not get a nomination through one of the existing avenues, pressure could then be put on the President to nominate. For example, would a Fianna Fáil President be under pressure to nominate Billy Kelleher, or would a Labour Party President be under pressure to nominate a Labour candidate in circumstances where we did not have the required 20 Oireachtas signatures?

The Labour Party will not be supporting the motion on the basis of those aspects that I have outlined, but we do not oppose the essence of the motion, which seeks to extend the voting franchise to citizens in the North and look at ways to ensure a diversity of candidates. That is something we should all be able to agree on. I thank Deputies Tóibín and Lawless for giving us the opportunity to reflect on our electoral system this week and renew our commitment to bringing forward a referendum. Citizens in the North have now waited 12 years and counting since the Convention on the Constitution's recommendation to allow them a franchise. It is time to deliver for them. It is vital we continue to value the Office of Uachtarán na hÉireann. I hope everyone, despite any misgivings about the process or the choice of candidates on the ballot this week, comes out to exercise their franchise, raise their voice and vote on Friday in this pivotal presidential election.

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