The Citizenship Papers

The Citizenship Papers is a collection of close to 40 essays written by a diverse group of authors,

political leaders, academics, activists and emigrants speaking their mind. We believe this series

can help to frame the coming national debate and encourage Ireland to embrace a new and more

inclusive relationship with its growing emigrant community. Think of this as an Irish mini-

version of the American Federalist Papers. We expect to release a second tranche of essays later

in the year to build our case for the expansion of voter rights.

We believe the coming national referendum granting emigrant voting rights in future Presidential

elections will lead to a long overdue national debate on Irish identity and citizenship and a robust

discussion on the future role of emigrants in the political life of the nation. All this comes at a

momentous time in the history of the Republic. Indeed the next ten years may be momentous

Are we a shared Ireland? Who gets to decide? Are emigrants included?

#Hometovote was a powerful reminder of the strength of the bond between Ireland and the Irish

abroad, and of emigrants’ aspirations to remain involved in the future of Ireland. By returning to

vote in recent national referendums, Irish emigrants have continued to demonstrate a profound

sense of responsibility to Ireland which too often has gone unrecognized by those who never left.

The Dublin Airport Arrival Terminal was a joyful site of democratic solidarity as emigrants

returned by the planeload. That said #HometoVote should come to an end as soon as possible.

These dramatic journeys homeward highlight the fact that Ireland lags behind the rest of the

world in terms of equality and the right to vote.

In January the International IDEA published the definitive text on out-of-country voting. The

paper notes that “125 states and territories allow people living abroad to participate in legislative

elections, and 88 allow participation in presidential elections. Only 24 countries open subnational

elections up to participation beyond their borders. In addition, 73 countries and territories allow

citizens overseas to participate in referendums.” (note 1) With few exceptions, Irish citizens abroad cannot participate, despite the fact that emigration has been central to the very definition of what it means to be Irish,

As Prof. Colin Harvey of Queens University writes in his essay, “Like Irish citizens around the

world, this wandering is part of our shared experience of displacement, mobility, migration, and

movement. And for many there was no choice involved, a life had to be constructed elsewhere.

This is an element of what it means to be ‘Irish’. Being resident outside of the state does not

make us any less ‘Irish’.“

Yet Ireland continues to remain increasingly out-of-step with the rest of the EU and with global

democratic norms. Over time, the inclusive vision of the Easter Proclamation to cherish all the

children of the nation equally and to create a government elected by the suffrages of all her men

and women has been reduced to a rigid and exclusionary set of voting rules and regulations.

Current voting regulations also do not reflect changing patterns of emigration with young, skilled

Irish emigrants, many of whom are university graduates, leaving and returning to Ireland for

limited durations. These emigrants believe they are Irish wherever they are and are increasingly

determined to have their say in Irish politics, given that they plan to return home and continue to

have a stake in the future of the country. Emigrants continue to be shortchanged as citizens by

the lack of a vote, and because they lack representation in the political system, their views are

not taken into account in policy making. Yet some of these policies have a direct impact on

their lives abroad and can hinder their return to Ireland.

Post-Brexit, the issue of Irish citizenship will take on even greater significance and become

central to the growing debate on a shared Ireland or a United Ireland. In our March 1st

conference a panel entitled “Northern Voices” led by citizen activist Emma DeSouz placed a

great emphasis on the absolute importance of the citizenship provisions of the Good Friday

Agreement; that you can be Irish, British or both. This broad definition of citizenship has kept

the peace for over 20 years and may keep the peace in the momentous years ahead.

Unfortunately, as Prof. Claire Rice notes in her essay “ The 2016 EU referendum reimposed a

binary split in Northern Ireland, which in turn has pushed debate on Irish and British identity into

the spotlight with a sense of heightened urgency. The GFA has been at the centre of these

discussions, and at points has come under strain."

There is a continuing uptick in the number of passport applications received from Northern

Ireland. At the end of 2020 there are about 830,000 Irish citizens and passport holders living just

over the Border and that number will only continue to go up post-Brexit. Some passport holders

seek to establish their Irish identity and others living in the North have sought Irish citizenship to

protect their E.U. rights particularly their freedom of movement. At present there are 1.2 million

people on the voting rolls in Northern Ireland, all of whom have a Constitutional right to Irish

citizenship.

Given the continuing demand for Irish passports in Northern Ireland, it is very possible that in

less than ten years we will reach a point where the majority of citizens in Northern Ireland will

hold dual citizenship. At what point will a fundamental political realignment take place, as the

leaders of both Fine Gael and Fianna Fail and other political parties decide to embrace an All-

Ireland political strategy and campaign in the North? Will they encourage voting rights for Irish

citizens in Armagh, Belfast, and Derry and not give them to Irish citizens in London, Liverpool

and Manchester?

According to the 2017 Options paper 2 released by the government in March of 2017 on

extending voting rights to citizens living outside the State an additional 1.73 million citizens

would be eligible to vote in future Presidential elections should the referendum be approved. To put this number in perspective there are 3.2 million citizens currently on the electoral rolls. These

numbers immediately conjure up a fear of “swamping” but the reality is that emigrants living

overseas fall into different categories (1) those who wish to vote (2) those who don’t think they

should (3) and others who believe that they vote in the state where they reside. In addition, the

State will have to make extensive efforts to publicize the fact emigrants can vote and given that

there is no tradition of voting among emigrants we should not expect a massive turnout of

emigrant voters.

The fear of “swamping” or “tipping” is often linked to the great Irish American diaspora even

though the vast majority Irish Americans are five and six generations removed from Ireland and

have no right to become citizens and vote. Many of our sister nations in the E.U. and particularly

France have a long established experience in allowing out-of-state citizens to vote. Ireland can

gain much from their experience.

Ireland has a very well-deserved reputation for punching above its weight; at the very top

globally in terms of Direct Foreign Investment, second in the world in terms of quality of life

with a first class diplomatic corps that demonstrated nimbleness and intelligence when it came to

Brexit Ireland sees itself as a Global Island. Yet when it comes voting and the integrity of our

democracy we somehow have become indifferent and complacent; losing touch with core belief

of the Revolution to cherish “all the children of the nation equally” and to establish a new

national government “ representative of the whole people of Ireland and elected by the suffrages

of all her men and women.”

While Ireland has a strong election process ranking #27 th in the world according to a report of the

global Electoral Integrity Project (EIP) 3 / it falls to #137 in the world clustered with Ethiopia,

Kenya and Honduras when it comes to the integrity of its voter registration system. The EIP

report faults Ireland for the inaccuracy of its voter registration system, the lack of postal voting,

denying emigrants the right to vote, the lack of the central information system such as Voter App

and the lack of systems to encourage voter registration particularly among young people.

Ireland is changing rapidly in terms of policy, outlook and how its citizens see themselves and

the nation, yet its restrictive voting policies for citizens living outside the state remain outdated,

discriminatory and undemocratic. The very make up of Ireland's population has changed as well

in the last two decades given inward migration patterns. Last year, Non-Irish nationals from

outside the EU continued to display strong migration flows, accounting for 30,400 (35.6%) of

total immigrants. (Note 4)

The great stumbling block to becoming a more inclusive and democratic nation is oddly a

“hierarchy of Irishness”as defined by another essay writer, citizen activist Emma DeSouza,. This

hierarchy of Irishnees based on geography and time limits is rooted in outdated understanding

of changing emigration patterns. It is extraordinary, in our opinion. that such a young Republic

has become so complacent to the core values on which it was founded and has lost touch with the

universal democratic principle of citizenship: one person, one vote. Thomas Clarke, the founding

father of the revolution, an American citizen and a returned Irish emigrant, may well be turning

over in his grave at this point.

Ireland needs to rebuild and modernize its democratic system of government. The Constitutional

Convention in 2013 recommended giving emigrants the right to vote in future Presidential

elections (with 78% support) and supported the same right for citizens living in Northern Ireland

(73%). The most recent Citizens Assembly (January, 2018) brought forward a series of timely

election reform recommendations including support for postal voting (83%).

Emigration comes with an emotional cost. Buying the airplane ticket is the easy part, saying

goodbye to your mother is much more challenging. As Kathleen O’Sullivan ,a mother of an

emigrant writes,

“I know he had to go. I know it was better for him. But I wish he was here. There are

times when I am at family events, and I almost zone out thinking there is one person

missing from the dinner table. Whether it is a birthday or communion or christening or

Christmas, there are so many he has missed out on. The phone and the advent of

FaceTime and such have made it easier. Yet I still feel crushed that he is so far away. He

may have left Ireland, but Ireland has never left him, and knowing my son, it never will.

His voice deserves to be heard.“

There have been two pivotal moments in Irish history when the right to vote was expanded.

The first, under Daniel O’Connell with the passage of the Catholic Emancipation Act and the

second with the founding of the Free State, when women were granted equal rights to vote. We

believe a third historic opportunity to expand the voting franchise is at hand and that The

Citizenship Papers can be a spark that engages the Irish people here at home and abroad to take

this historic step.

Endnotes
1 https://www.idea.int/publications/catalogue/out-country-voting

2 http://www.housing.gov.ie/local-government/voting/presidential-elections/voting-presidential-elections-citizens-resident

3 https://www.electoralintegrityproject.com/

4 https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/er/pme/populationandmigrationestimatesapril2020/