Northern Ireland’s First Minister has stated that the current Irish presidential election should be the final one in which people living in the North are denied the right to vote.
Michelle O’Neill highlighted that while she is eligible to run for the presidency of Ireland, she is not permitted to vote in the election, which she described as a “huge gap” that must be addressed, reports Breaking News.
She made the remarks on Monday, shortly after deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly reiterated her stance against granting voting rights in the presidential election to residents of Northern Ireland.
Last Friday, Ms Little-Pengelly asserted that Northern Ireland already has a head of state, referring to the British monarch, reports Breaking News.
She further advised caution, saying there is a need to avoid “overstep[ping] the mark” between “a political reality and a political aspiration”.
When asked at Stormont about those remarks, Ms O’Neill acknowledged a difference of opinion.
“As an Irish citizen, the irony is all this debate is the fact that I as an Irish citizen can stand for the office of Uachtaráin na hÉireann, but cannot vote in that election,” she said, reports Breaking News.
“That’s a huge gap and a deficit that needs to be corrected, and we’re determined to ensure that that is the case. This needs to be the last election for Uachtaráin na hÉireann where northern citizens are left out of the vote because we have to be afforded that right as Irish citizens,” reports Breaking News.
Back in 2013, a constitutional convention in the Republic proposed granting voting rights to Irish citizens living outside the state.
Such a change would require a constitutional amendment to be approved through a public referendum, reports Breaking News.
A referendum was originally scheduled for 2019, but it was postponed due to the complex political atmosphere surrounding post-Brexit discussions focused on the Irish border.
Sinn Féin has continued to urge the Irish Government to move forward with the proposal, but there has been no renewed commitment to a vote, reports Breaking News.
Standing beside Ms O’Neill at Parliament Buildings in Belfast on Monday, Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald shared her disappointment about the current situation.
“It’s a great pity that in this election again citizens north of the border can’t elect their president. It’s ironic really, somebody from Belfast or Derry or Fermanagh or Tyrone could stand as Uachtaráin na hÉireann, could be elected to that post but cannot vote for the First Citizen. It’s something that needs to be corrected, it should have corrected a long time ago,” reports Breaking News.
Tell us your thoughts in the Facebook post and share this with your friends.
