Some senior politicians shy away from letting Irish emigrants and people living in Northern Ireland vote in presidential elections because of fears that it could lead “to a Sinn Féin president”, former Minister for Foreign Affairs, Simon Coveney has declared.
Strongly supporting extending the franchise, Mr Coveney told the Kennedy Summer School in New Ross, Co Wexford, that up to 3 million Irish citizens living outside of the State, including Northern Ireland, would “respond very well” to voting in presidential elections.
“I think it’s important to be honest. I think there are a lot of senior politicians who shy away from this decision because of political reasons, who think that if we open this vote up, then we’re going to have a Sinn Féin president,” he said.
“[They fear] that it’s going to skew the balance. And, so, they are not enthusiastic about this because of self-interest in terms of party political interests and so on. I think that is the wrong way to look at it,” he said the summer school.
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“Like any election, if you’re going to expand the numbers of people who can vote, then, obviously, potential change and risk comes with that. But, ultimately, that’s not a reason not to do it,” the former minister for foreign affairs went on.
Making a distinction between people living in Northern Ireland from others: “There’s a special situation where many Irish people in Northern Ireland see themselves as Irish, as I am. They have the same stake in their own minds in the future of Ireland as we have.
“And in my view [they] should be part of choosing Ireland’s first citizen,” said the Fine Gael Cork South Central TD, who is stepping down from national politics when the Dáil dissolves before the next general election.
Every major political party in the Dáil has officially declared support for extending the franchise in presidential elections, backed up by a Citizens’ Assembly which also supported such a move, if, perhaps, with some restrictions.
If accepted in a referendum, the proposal would let those of the 1.9m people living in Northern Ireland who declare themselves as Irish, and, roughly, a similar number living elsewhere holding an Irish passport a right to vote in presidential elections only.
“The question is how rather than whether we should do this. There are very valid questions around qualification criteria to be on the voter register, and we can talk about, but the principle of this has been committed to by multiple ministers,” said Mr Coveney.
The former minister said he actively wants to hear the voices of Northern unionists who would decide to register to vote in presidential elections: “I want to hear a unionist voice. I’m someone who believes in unification on this island. But I also believe, as part of that, that Britishness on this island needs to be part of that discussion, so that we accommodate the concerns, the traditions, the different perspectives on history that unionist communities have.
“So, what better way to do that than actually [having] the person who represents this island in the future, North or South, being elected by everyone on this island,” Mr Coveney told the Kennedy Summer School, held in New Ross since 2012.
Mr Coveney emphasised that his support for emigrant voting rights is confined only to presidential elections, not to voting in Dáil, local, European elections, or in referendums, bar cases where people have remained on the voting register in the State.
Seeking to “demystify” claims that up to 70 million people claiming an Irish connection would vote, Mr Coveney said: “We’re not talking about millions and millions of people voting in a presidential election that don’t live in Ireland.”
Granting voting rights to qualifying emigrants, or passport holders, Mr Coveney said it would greatly help in “knitting together what it means to be Irish worldwide” – a relationship that to be “a two-way street”.
