Voting rights for Irish overseas to be examined

The issue of voting rights for Irish people living overseas will be addressed as part of the constitutional convention agreed in the Program for Government. Tanaiste Eamon Gilmore confirmed during his visit to New York last week that the matter will be looked at in detail during the review of the constitution over the next few years.

He said it would be “quite a departure” if Ireland moves away from the current link between the right to vote and residence. “One of the considerations that needs to be factored into the Irish situation is that the size of the Irish diaspora is very large,” he said. He said the spectrum of Irish passport holders ranged from those who had recently left and were possibly still on the electoral register at home, to those who left many years ago. There were also significant numbers who acquired Irish citizenship through their parentage.

“The idea is that the constitutional convention will be able to engage with it and discuss it,” he said “And I expect that immigrants and organizations will participate in that.” He said it was time for Ireland to take a fresh look at what kind of constitution is appropriate for the 21^st Century. “The constitution we have, has served us very well since 1937, but it was a product of its time, and it’s been amended many times. There are a lot of proposals outstanding for amending it. And our thinking is that we need to take a fresh look at our constitutional arrangements, and look at the kind of constitution that is appropriate now for the Ireland of the 21^st Century.

“Bearing in mind that the 1937 constitution has been with us for three quarters of a century now and we need a new constitution with that kind of enduring lifetime, and part of the remit of that constitutional convention will be to look at the issue of voting rights.” He said the constitutional convention would not be simply a political forum.

“The idea is to have something that is wider than just involves political parties. Our idea was that this would be a citizens’ exercise or forum, where people individually and people who are organized, and that includes political parties, will make their contribution to that. But it won’t be an exercise confined to political parties.” 

He said the government intends to proceed “reasonably quickly” with establishing the convention, with the aim of having a new constitution before the 100 year anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising.