Irish citizens living in Ireland will cast their votes in the general election this Friday, February 26th.

But Irish citizens living overseas (with the exception of those who have been abroad for less than 18 months, and return to cast their ballot on election day) are unable to vote.

So we’re offering them a chance to cast a symbolic “virtual vote” in our online poll.

The poll will remain open for 48 hours, until 2pm Irish time on Thursday, with the results published on Thursday evening. While the vote is self-selecting, and in no way representative, we hope it will give some insight into how emigrants would vote if they did have the means to do so.

After you’ve voted, let us know in the comments section below how you feel observing the election coverage from abroad. What election issues do you feel strongly about? Have you been contributing to the debates on social media, or in other ways? How do you feel about not being able to have your say?