David Cullinane (Sinn Fein)
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I move:

"That Seanad Éireann:

— recognises the need to enhance the democratic process on this island;

— recognises the desire to enable Northern participation in the political life of the nation, as an important part of the Irish peace process and a natural outworking of the Good Friday Agreement;

— affirms the democratic values of citizenship and equality that define our nation and people;

— supports the extension of voting rights to all Irish citizens in the Six Counties as well as citizens living and working abroad, subject to conditions set out in law, in presidential elections;

— calls for a thorough review and reform of the nomination process for presidential elections; and

— urges that all these matters be addressed and technical issues resolved by the forthcoming Constitutional Convention.".

I welcome the opportunity to move this motion and thank the Fine Gael Party for giving us the Private Members' time. When we discussed putting forward a motion we could have put forward one on any number of issues. For example, we could have played party politics with many of the important economic and social issues but we decided instead to place a motion before the House which we believe should have the support of all political parties and Independents.

The motion is about extending presidential voting rights for all Irish citizens, especially those who live in the North of Ireland but also Irish people who live abroad who in our view are part of the broad Irish nation. It also refers to reform of the nomination process, which would deal with a number of issues. It would mean that citizens in the North would have some mechanism to allow for the nomination of a candidate, if that is their wish.

Also, any person under the age of 35 years should be able to contest the presidential election.

In the motion we call for the modalities of these issues to be worked out in the constitutional convention. Through the motion we want to get the political parties, which have all committed to presidential voting rights for all Irish citizens, to reaffirm that right and agree the principle.

Yesterday in the Dáil, Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Taoiseach if he agreed the extension of voting rights to all Irish citizens and passport holders would be a natural outworking of the Good Friday Agreement, which enshrines the right of the people of the North to Irish citizenship, and if he had given further consideration to extending the franchise for presidential elections north of the Border. He asked if this could perhaps be considered in the context of the upcoming planned constitutional convention.

The Taoiseach's response was clear and unambiguous: "I have given some consideration to the Deputy's suggestion. It is right that the constitutional convention should consider this matter and I hope to announce the establishment after the presidential election". Those are the Taoiseach's words and they are in line with the wording of the Sinn Féin motion, which is very clear and refers to extending voting rights for all citizens. The Government amendment, however, makes no mention of voting rights for citizens. It refers to the programme for Government but there is no mention in that programme for extending voting rights to citizens in the North of Ireland or abroad.

It is, therefore, important for the Minister and for all Senators to clarify their position. If all Senators agree with their stated party positions, and if they agree with the Taoiseach, who said yesterday in the Dáil that the matter should be discussed in the constitutional convention, there is no reason why any Senator here would not support the Sinn Féin motion. That is why it is surprising there has been an amendment that seeks to water down the proposal. It is a cause of concern but I will listen to what Government representatives have to say.

It is important that we extend voting rights to all Irish citizens. It is the birthright of all people born on the island of Ireland to be part of the Irish nation. Someone born in Belfast, Derry, any part of Antrim, Fermanagh, Tyrone, Down or any county in the North of Ireland is no different from someone born in Waterford, Cork, Donegal, Louth or any other county. The Constitution is clear on this, speaking of all of the Irish people and the Irish nation. When the President is elected, the pledge of office speaks of the Irish nation, as does the Proclamation of 1916, which spoke of all of the children of the nation, and that nation being all 32 counties.

This request is not being made solely by Sinn Féin, it is being made by political parties in the North, with a non-party campaign calling for "One Voice, One Vote". We had representatives of that organisation in Leinster House yesterday and there is a number of Northern Assembly members in the Visitors Gallery today. There is a consensus among those political parties that are defined as Nationalist in the North that they should have the right to vote. They are Irish citizens and most of them hold Irish passports. Why are they not allowed to vote for the President of their country? It is ironic that the current President, Mary McAleese, who we all agree has been a hugely powerful figure and who has raised the game in terms of the presidency, comes from the Ardoyne area of Belfast. If she and her husband still lived in Belfast, they would not have been able to vote when she was contesting the election and would not be able to vote for any candidate in the current election.

This goes to the heart of the issues that were resolved in the Good Friday Agreement. That Agreement spoke about people in the North having the right to be part of the Irish nation. It defined citizenship and the right of people having the right to be Irish, British or both; Sinn Féin supports that. The notion of voting rights for those in the North should not be seen as a threat to anyone; this is to enhance the democratic process and the Good Friday Agreement, to be part of its outworking while vindicating the Constitution and the pledge of office the successful candidate in the election will take.

Most importantly, it is to vindicate the rights of citizens and to ensure we go further than paying lip-service to the notion citizens in the North of Ireland are part of the Irish nation. It is one thing to have it in the Constitution, the Proclamation or a pledge of office but it is entirely different when those same citizens are denied the right to vote for their President.

The upcoming convention will deal with a number of issues. It is critical that it is shaped by all of the people of Ireland. I hope that when the convention is being established that the Good Friday Agreement is looked at as part of its terms of reference and the Government of the day vindicates what it has promised. All political parties, from the Labour Party, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil to Sinn Féin and many Independents have spoken of the need to reform the system. If we speak about the need to reform the system, we must follow that through. Senator Ó Clochartaigh will address some of the clear commitments given by those parties.

It is also important to point out this motion is not just about citizens in the North, it is about people who live abroad who are also part of the Irish nation. Tens of thousands have emigrated in the last four years, with some estimates claiming over 100,000 people have left. Those people have the right to be able to vote for their President. Any Irish citizen who is part of the Irish nation should be able to vote for the President because the President is the President of the nation and the people.

There is an argument that we cannot have representation without taxation but I do not accept that argument in this context because the President has no budgetary role; that is a matter for the Oireachtas and the Government. This is about the President symbolising the Irish people. This is not just the view of Sinn Féin. Senator Ó Clochartaigh will restate the positions of all political parties in this House. It is also their stated view.

The motion also deals with reform of the nomination process. People can have different views of what sort of process we should have. The Minister and I had a robust debate on the reforms he proposes but his proposal is to cut the number of Deputies, potentially to abolish the Seanad and to reduce the number of councils. Fewer councils and people will be able to nominate candidates and we may make it harder for candidates to get on to the ballot paper in the future. We must also ensure that young people can run. It is offensive that someone who is 25 or 30 who can vote and who has life experience cannot go forward on to the ballot paper and contest the presidential election. They can vote but they cannot run. This is an issue of equality at the heart of the motion.

This would enhance the democratic process while outworking the Good Friday Agreement. It is most important and if any Senator supports the democratic process and the logic of the Good Friday Agreement, he or she should support this motion because it is a vindication of the right of all Irish people to be able to vote for their President.