Labhrás Ó Murchú (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Later today I will be introducing a Bill which advocates that data from the 1926 census should be made available to the public. I cannot overemphasise the importance of this census, particularly as it was the first to be conducted following the foundation of the State. The usual procedure is to wait 100 years before issuing data relating to a given census. At present, however, we are in the midst of a decade of commemorations in respect of events such as the 1913 Lock-out, the 1916 Easter Rising and the First World War. It is very important for people to understand what happened subsequent to the period to which those commemorations relate and how Ireland reacted.

I have received correspondence from genealogists across the globe and I am aware that they are all waiting for data relating to the 1926 census to be released. In order to complete both family trees and the story of Ireland at that particular time, said data is extremely important. When the 1911 census data was made available online, in a matter of months it had been accessed by millions of individuals. That gives us an idea of what people expect in the context of census data. I hope there will be unanimity when I introduce my Private Members Bill on the matter later. I am of the view that it would be a very worthwhile exercise if the 1926 census data were made available by 2016.

On a separate issue, I have received a great deal of correspondence from England in respect of the possibility of Irish citizens who reside there obtaining a vote in the next presidential election. There is massive hurt among those to whom I refer at present. Their understanding is that if the Government takes action on this matter, then only those who travelled to England in the past 15 years will be able to vote. Imagine how those who travelled to England to find work during difficult periods prior to the past 15 years and who have been sending money back to their families must feel about this matter? It would be an absolute insult not to give these people the same opportunity as that which may be afforded to those who travelled to England in more recent times. I appeal to the Leader, in the context of whatever might emanate from the Constitutional Convention regarding this matter, to convey to the Government the importance of not snubbing Irish people who have been living and working in England for 30 or 40 years. Those to whom I refer comprise over 80% of Irish citizens living in England at present. I hope the information relating to this matter is wrong but I have a feeling that it is not.