An Emigrant Without A Say

Today I came across an article on Facebook that mentioned the fact that Irish emigrants still do not have the legal right to vote outside of the island of Ireland, so I decided to do a little digging.

I already knew this, of course, a fact that I, unfortunately, learned during the May referendum concerning same-sex marriage. While all of my family and friends got a say on this pivotal moment in history, I could only watch from the sidelines and listen for any news I could.



I immigrated over two years ago. I turned 18 in England, so I never exactly registered to vote. Before the May referendum, I googled registering, but learned that while I may do so, I wouldn't be able to use my vote, so I decided not to bother as it would just be a wasted vote.
I have always said that I would one day return to my own country, when I got my degree, or a decent CV, or once inflation finally decided to get lost and everything went back to being cheap (has it ever actually been cheap?).

I, personally, find it oddly ironic that the country that was the first in the world to legalize same-sex marriage, is also one of the last to legalize emigrant voting. So far emigrant voting is legal in 36 European countries, 6 Pacific countries, 21 African countries, 15 Asian countries and 13 North and South American countries. Yet Ireland has still not joined this list.

As a country that has centuries of immigration ingrained in its history, this makes no sense. Surely this would have been legalized years ago?

Next year will be the the 100 year celebration of the Easter Rising and the deaths of men who died for our freedoms and our right to vote. I know people have been using this excuse a lot while arguing austerity and water charges, but I find it incredibly important when talking about the vote. Many famous Irish people throughout history, including Michael Collins, at some point lived abroad or went to England. So it would only make sense to give the Irish abroad a right to vote in regards to their home wouldn't it?

Would the reason for this delay be out of fear from the Irish government? Are they afraid of the number of us who have experienced different laws and social policies in these other countries? Do they worry that we will demand more than an end to water tax? Every country will always demand better policies, and no country is perfect. And while some countries are ahead of others, that still doesn't make them perfect either.

Yes, a system would need to be drawn up as to how the votes would be collected and counted, but we could always draw from other countries. Ireland is a multi-cultural country now, and many of the people living there vote in regards to their own countries of birth, so why can't we just adopt those methods?
When I was younger I thought that once I turned 18 I would be able to immediately vote. I am now 20 and have never voted in my life. Not only, as an Irish citizen by birth, does this anger me, but also as a woman. People have died so I can vote as an Irish citizen. Women in the world still can't vote, when I can (or at least should be able to). Yet the fact I was forced to immigrate has stopped me from voting.

Maybe I want to vote when it comes to my friends having the right to get married. Maybe I have an opinion on appealing the 8th. Perhaps I want to vote a certain political party into power.
So don't give us any of this voting without taxation rubbish. We may have left but we have never lost our connection with out homes and family. The diaspora is still going strong. If the Irish people really lost their connection, wouldn't our political leaders NOT visit the White House every St Patrick's Day?

This isn't the 1850s, or even the 1950s. We have social media. We call home all the time now. We can keep up to date and know what we are voting for when the time comes.


We are the missing people. And we ARE coming home. And when we do, we want to settle down and raise our children in a country where we were given a say on how was is run.

Both images are not mine and belong to their respected owners.