Sinn Féin Leader Mary Lou McDonald today said that November’s election must be the last Presidential election that excludes citizens in the North, and citizens living abroad.
She said: “It’s a matter of some injustice, a violation of democracy, that Irish citizens in the six counties and those living aboard are denied the right to vote for their Uachtarán.
“Every seven years, when the Presidential Election rolls around, Irish citizens from the North and living overseas are told by the political establishment that they are less Irish, forced to accept second-class status, alienated from the nation to which they belong.
“You can also be a candidate for the office of President, but if you reside in Derry, as did Martin McGuinness, you’re not allowed a vote. You can even win the election and become President of Ireland, but because you’re from Belfast, as was Mary McAleese, you’re barred from voting for yourself.”
Ms McDonald was speaking in the Dáil as she moved a Sinn Féin motion calling for voting rights in Presidential elections to be extended to all Irish citizens on the island of Ireland and the diaspora.
Highlighting that it is now 11 years since Sinn Féin legislation providing for the extension of Presidential voting rights passed Second Stage in the Dáil, she added: “For more than a decade, both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have promised to extend Presidential voting rights. But nothing has happened. The commitment has even been dropped from the current Programme for Government.
“Delay is no longer acceptable; delay was never acceptable. What we need now, finally, is a clear timeline from the government and a date for the holding of a referendum.
“November’s election must be the last Presidential election that excludes citizens in the North and those living abroad who so deeply love their country.
Read Ms McDonald’s Dáil contribution in full below the video:
The President of Ireland is President for all the people of Ireland.
The office of Uachtarán na hÉireann embodies the shared values, hopes, and vision of our citizens, not just here in this state, but in the North, and right across the world,
The President is not just President for the twenty-six counties, but for the entire Irish nation, regardless of the separation imposed upon us by partition or by the scourges of famine, oppression and economic hardship that scattered generations to the four corners of the globe.
It’s a matter of some injustice, a violation of democracy, that Irish citizens in the six counties and those living aboard are denied the right to vote for their Uachtarán.
Every seven years, when the Presidential Election rolls around, Irish citizens from the North and living overseas are told by the political establishment that they are less Irish, forced to accept second-class status, alienated from the nation to which they belong.
The Sam Maguire currently resides in Armagh. Yet, the players who proudly lifted that historic cup last July in Croke Park, and indeed the supporters who cheered them on, will not be permitted a vote in November. So, you can be a champion of all Ireland and yet be prevented from voting for the President of Ireland.
You can also be a candidate for the office of President, but if you reside in Derry, as did Martin McGuinness, you’re not allowed a vote.
You can even win the election and become President of Ireland, but because you’re from Belfast, as was Mary McAleese, you’re barred from voting for yourself.
Citizens from all corners of Ireland who emigrated, many from generations who left due economic turmoil, in search of work, young people today forced-out because of the housing crisis – they love their country. They have a stake in its future, but they too are denied their vote for President.
It is this democratic exclusion that our Bill seeks to end by implementing the 2013 recommendation of the Constitutional Convention, a recommendation which states that citizens resident outside the State should have the right to vote in Presidential Elections.
That was twelve years ago. Delay.
In 2014, our legislation providing for the extension of Presidential voting rights passed Second Stage in the Dáil.
That was eleven years ago. Delay.
A Referendum had been set for May 2019, but it was postponed by the government.
That was six years ago. Delay.
For more than a decade, both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have promised to extend Presidential voting rights. But nothing has happened. The commitment has even been dropped from the current Programme for Government.
This government inertia can’t be allowed to continue. In May, the northern Assembly historically voted to support the extending of presidential voting rights to citizens in the North. It was a powerful democratic message, one which reaffirms the principles of equality enshrined in the Good Friday Agreement.
The government must act on this positive momentum. I welcome that the Tánaiste has recently indicated that he is ‘supportive’ of the principle, and his further commitment to engaging with ‘government colleagues, including the Taoiseach, in relation to this matter’. I wonder if the Minister can tell the Dáil if those engagements have happened?
Delay is no longer acceptable; delay was never acceptable. What we need now, finally, is a clear timeline from the government and a date for the holding of a referendum.
Caithfear cead a thabhairt do saoránaigh na hÉireann ó Thuaidh agus ina gcónaí thar lear vótá a chaitheamh dá chéad saoránach, dá n-Uachtarán. Caithfidh an rialtas dáta a shocrú do reifreann
I look forward to the day when partition is ended and Ireland is united, to the day when all Irish citizens, at home and abroad, are afforded their full democratic rights. But those barriers, and the partitionist mindset that created them, won’t fall of their own accord. We must dismantle them piece by piece.
The President of Ireland is a President for all the people of Ireland. November’s election must be the last Presidential election that excludes citizens in the North and those living abroad who so deeply love their country.
