I think if you look at this from a political perspective, Irish emigrants tend to leave when times are tough and the government of the day, (most likely to be FF), are then often associated with the reason for leaving in the first place. Why would a government give the right to vote to those who might vote against them - especially when they have no powerful way to influence them from afar.

On the other hand, If Ireland truly wants to engage with its diaspora this has to be a two-way street. Acknowledge the diaspora’s sense of identity, take action to formalise that acknowledgement, and move forward from there. Mutual benefit comes from mutual trust.

Maybe when International RTE does take to the airwaves there will be a good argument for bringing this one back to the table.

The case of the recent Polish elections proved this, I think. There was lots of coverage asking how the Polish diaspora in Ireland would vote. It seemed absurd that we were talking about how the Polish would vote while resident in Ireland, while the Irish abroad don’t have the same option, yet it was never picked up on, that I could see anyway.

I don’t think the issue of whether non-citizen immigrants should be allowed to vote is in competition with the idea of emigrant voting rights (although Ireland’s stance on this is much less unusual!). Voting rights for non-citizen immigrants are also becoming more common internationally - although there aren’t half as many countries allowing this.

It’s interesting too about how immigrants tend to vote in their host country, once they are eligable. I read a very interesting article recently which pointed out how immigrant communities in Germany and France have a tendency to vote for parties on the Left, because generally it is these parties who are willing to advocate for them. Because this is well known internationally, you’d imagine that the Irish Labour Party, for example, would start lobbying to have voting rights extended to immigrant communities. However, immigrants are eligable to vote in the local elections, and because they’ve a tendency to be based in certain areas around the country such as North and West Dublin there’s every reason to assume that they will become a significant voting block. Now of course that could mean that in two years time we could see a number of independent Polish and Lithuanian councillors, but its interesting, although I’m going completely off the point.

It’s simply a recognition of the way globalisation and increased migration are changing our ideas of political representation.

Yes. Maybe I wasn’t going off the point after all.

I don’t think the issue of whether non-citizen immigrants should be allowed to vote is in competition with the idea of emigrant voting rights (although Ireland’s stance on this is much less unusual!). Voting rights for non-citizen immigrants are also becoming more common internationally - although there aren’t half as many countries allowing this.

It’s simply a recognition of the way globalisation and increased migration are changing our ideas of political representation.

I think though that a small measure of voting rights can be allowed for those who happen to be out of the country for a year or two, considering that a government could well last 5 years, although prior to the last decade that was rarely the case.

However, the main thing seems to be the unwillingness to extend the vote to those from new EU countries who have come into the country. I have seen no debate about this at all, so it was worth bringing it up here and on IE for that reason alone.

There seems to be a reaction against this from some ex-pats, judging from the comments on IE. They’re saying that those who have left the old sod behind shouldn’t be allowed to control things in their absense, especially as they don’t pay taxes or gain the benefits/misfortunes of living here.

But the way of the modern world is very different now, as you own experience Seanachie, testifies. What about the people who are working abroad for relatively short periods of time (one or two years), or make regular trips back to Ireland. Anyone living on the continent probably comes back twice a year. What about those working in Saudi Arabia or The United Arab Emirates. They’re not going to live there forever. There should be some mechanism to provide for this.

The main issue in this though seems to be, as you mention again Seanachie, that the majority of non-nationals aren’t eligable to vote for a goodly long time. Considering that they pay tax and the Government controls all the public service upon which they rely they should be allowed to have a say.

Even if we accept it as a valid argument, it immediately collapses under the weight of media available to people living anywhere in the developed world.

The French were queuing past dinner time outside their Dublin embassy. They embarrass us. Not by the speed of which they count their votes, but by the openess, participation and variety of their politics.