Seanad debates

Wednesday, 2 October 2013

11:20 am

Photo of Jimmy HarteJimmy Harte (Labour) | Oireachtas source

Following on from Senator Ó Domhnaill's assertions about Sinn Féin, I recently took part in a debate with Deputy Pearse Doherty on Highland Radio. He had the temerity to call this institution an affront to democracy and I challenged him on that. For anyone living in the Border areas, listening to Sinn Féin politicians refusing to condemn the murder of Irish citizens and innocent people was the affront to democracy, not the Seanad. Some former Senators, and we all know who they are, have really kicked this around for some reason. They see it as a threat to them. As Senator Ó Domhnaill noted, Sinn Féin has zero credibility when it comes to the issue of democracy. Nobody can contradict me on that.

I ask for a debate on the outcome of the Convention on the Constitution on Sunday where it was agreed that voting rights in presidential elections be extended to citizens of Northern Ireland. We need to be careful here because the President has power to refuse to dissolve the Dáil and to refer Bills to the Council of State. For citizens from outside the Twenty-six Counties to have a say in that is going down the constitutional route. I received an e-mail from a constituent yesterday who told me they had no problem with giving voting rights to people from Northern Ireland but queried why people in Donegal do not have voting rights in Northern Ireland because what happens in Derry affects Donegal. What the Convention on the Constitution is saying is that people in Derry can have a say in Donegal but people in Donegal cannot have a say in Derry. It is a two-way street. The convention should not be all about nationalism. There are two communities in this country and we should embrace both. The convention must be careful in making a populist and ill-judged decision.

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