Irish politics incl Northern Ireland

[White Van Man]

The GFA removed the Republic’s claim of jurisdiction over NI. Giving voting rights to people living in the North would be a bad faith rowing back on that.

Varadkar floated the idea of allowing people in the North to vote in presidential elections back in 2017 or 2018(?), but the idea went nowhere when they realised it would need a constitutional amendment.

 

[King Silkbeard]

Most modern countries allow their foreign expats to vote and so should we, also I think it a great idea to allow citizens from NI to vote in the Republic.

 

[White Van Man]

Nope. Half the population of NI doesn’t have any particular love for us, so it’s not difficult to see how allowing them to vote in our elections would be a really bad idea.

Aside from presidential elections, why would they be voting in our local or general elections anyway? They wouldn’t be represented by any candidate or party

 

[Lee Bushwacker]

And it’s not a situation like the US or South Africa which are counties that allow ex-pats to vote.

Our diaspora is far far larger than our resident population so we’d be allowing people who have never even been to Ireland to decide our Government. No thanks.

Spain also.
Julio Iglesias pays his taxes in Miami but can vote here while I have restricted voting rights.

 

[White Van Man]

I don't believe that someone should be allowed vote in a country's elections just because they hold a passport from that country. If someone left Ireland to go live in Australia for example, why should they be able to vote in elections they're not affected by?

And vice versa, I believe that someone who's living legally in a country should be allowed to vote in a country's elections, even if they don't hold a passport from that country.

Fair's fair like

 

[King Silkbeard]

Plenty of Irish people leave because of economic reasons, not always of their making and go to places like the UK & Australia, instead of penalising them and ignoring their voting power they should be allowed to vote, worth pointing out that in a lot of constituencies, you have low turnout, let the people like in the North and elsewhere have these rights. Some Irish expats want to be able to vote while those here can't be bothered.

 

[White Van Man]

Plenty of Irish people leave because of economic reasons, not always of their making and go to places like the UK & Australia,

Economic reasons? So what? People move to other countries for lots of reasons. If anything, moving for to another country for economic reasons shows that you've given up on your country of origin. So why should you continue to have a say in how it's run?

instead of penalising them and ignoring their voting power they should be allowed to vote,

Why? It's not penalising someone if they never had the right in the first place. I'm still not seeing a compelling argument in favour of allowing non-residents to vote.

worth pointing out that in a lot of constituencies, you have low turnout,

Irrelevant point. Choosing to vote (or not) is a person's privilege, a freedom of expression issue.

let the people like in the North and elsewhere have these rights.

Too many people with ulterior motives in the North. I already addressed this. Any constitutional amendment to allow it would need to go to a referendum anyway, which I can't see happening.

Some Irish expats want to be able to vote while those here can't be bothered.

If you leave the country to go live somewhere else you're an emigrant, not an "expat". That's a loaded word used by people who think they're better than the people in the country they move to.

We never hear Irish people referring to Brazilian expats or NIgerian expats or Ukrainian expats living here. It's always "non-resident" or "members of the [...] community"

 

[criodain]

But people in the north would be voting for politicians who can do nothing to change their situation...

 

[King Silkbeard]

But people in the north would be voting for politicians who can do nothing to change their situation...

Crime, immigration, trade, diplomacy arts, culture & tourism are all issues that apply to both the Republic & North.

 

[Hallbopping]

Crime, immigration, trade, diplomacy arts, culture & tourism are all issues that apply to both the Republic & North.

“Crime, immigration, trade, diplomacy arts(?), culture & tourism…”

Fair play, that’s the full bingo card. Shame none of it makes Dublin the government of Northern Ireland. “Shared issues” isn’t a magic spell.