SDLP Youth: One President, One Island, One Vote

national | rights, freedoms and repression | press release

Thursday January 31, 2008 15:08

by SDLP Youth - SDLP Youth

SDLP Youth activists have mounted a demonstration at the Dáil calling for northerners to be allowed to vote in Irish Presidential elections.

SDLP Youth on RTE Six One News

Speaking at the event, SDLP Youth Chairperson Gary McKeown said, “People living in the north have the right to identify themselves as Irish, so it is only fair that they should be allowed to vote for their head of state. This is in-keeping with the spirit of the Good Friday Agreement and strengthens democracy. We believe that anyone who is eligible to vote in the north should be allowed to cast a ballot in the race for Áras an Uachtaráin.

“This should not be seen as an attempt to undermine the right of unionists on this island to identify themselves as British. It is simply aimed at providing people in the North of Ireland with the democratic right to vote for the President of Ireland alongside their counterparts in the Republic. Indeed, it is ironic that our current President is from the north- we have a ridiculous situation at present whereby someone from the north can stand for President, yet people living in that part of the island can’t actually vote in the election.”

The Newry Representative continued, “The SDLP has the strongest track record of developing cross-border links and working with our partners in the Republic to build a better future for everyone on this island. This SDLP Youth campaign promotes an all-island normalisation agenda which respects everyone’s rights and strengthens democratic participation on an all-Ireland basis. By working with other parties, we believe that a resolution to this issue can be found more quickly.”

Magherafelt SDLP Youth Member John O’Doherty concluded adding, “We had invited representatives from all the main parties elected in the south to join us at this demonstration. It was disappointing that we were told by most of them that their respective parties have no policy on this matter. I would urge all parties to think in an All Ireland context on such issues and to join with us in the fight to secure voting rights for people living in the northern counties.”

save preference

Comments (4 of 4)

No Way! I totally Oppose this!

by Eddie Valentine

Fri Feb 01, 2008 18:47

I totally oppose this idea. Why should people not subject to the laws have a right to have a say? Why should immigrants living in the South not have a vote in Dáil elections and referenda? SDLP and SF are not calling for this!

Why is voting for the president make you Irish? You are Irish, do you need a vote for a useless time wasting money wasting old person to validate your "Irishness"? I want to see the presidency abolished. It's a waste of time, it's a waste of money, and it's only there to stop any left-wing Dáil going "too far".

I also strongly disagree with Irish citizens living abroad looking for votes in Dáil, Seanad or presidential elections. Irish citizens living abroad actually outnumer the citizens living in the State! So if this was given it would mean that people removed from Ireland (many never setting foot in the state) would out-vote us!

I have no problem with very liberal citizenship laws. I fully agree that people born in NI should be full citizens. But they should only vote in elections if they are going to be subject to the laws and taxes they vote for.

PS - Sinn Féin's support for Mary McAleese was a reason there was no election in 2004. SF supporting a right-winger not for the first or last time.

failure to address the issue

by Barry - 32 csm

Thu Jan 31, 2008 21:22

if your goal is electing someone to the aras then whats preventing you from doing that is the fact your country is partly occupied by a foreign power and partitioned , thereby frustrating the practice of national democracy . The SDLP actively campaigned for partition to be a conceivably permanent situation under the GFA and for the acceptance of the principle its a legitimate act for Britian to frustrate the practice of a national democracy on a conceivably permanent basis .
.They also helped negotiate , along with sinn fein , a situation in which part of the Irish nation was to be accepted without any constitutional challenge at all as an integral part of the United Kingdom . The best they can hope for is a voting system for emigrant citizens under such an arrangement , similar to what the polish community here currently enjoy during elections in their home country . As such its a cross border initiative , not an All Ireland one . Theres a difference . When Linfeild play Bohemians its a cross border encounter , not an all Ireland one .
The only way in which the practice of a national all Ireland democracy can be acheived is by addressing the obstacles which preclude the practice of a national democracy . Whilst the SDLP and other constitutional nationalists continue to prop up and argue for the very obstacles to such a democracy their complaints of a lack of democracy seem illogical in the extreme .

Who would they vote for?

by Sceptic

Thu Jan 31, 2008 17:20

The SDLP youth wing has a point and are honourable people. However this is really an SF demand that is designed to put Gerry Adams in the Park. Then we would have people like Slab Murphy (“a good republican” according to Adams ) being a frequent and distinguished visitor to the Aras as well as IRA people and ETA people and the like. As Commander in Chief of the Army people might get confused as to which particular army Gerry would be referring to. He would also be receiving diplomats despite his own army having killed members of the Irish diplomatic corp. It would raise a host of difficulties.

Hows the FF thing going?

by Bertie

Thu Jan 31, 2008 16:22

Fianna Fail are romancing SDLP to further their rather strange approach to Republicanism.
They claim that they will not allow members stand in Westminister, but some people never
learn, do they?
Look at the splitting of the Greens before embarking on projects that are grounded in
neo-globalisation masking itself as representational politics. a lot of people in the 26 counties
do not vote because there is such a dearth of actual representation by centrist parties in the south.

Upcoming Events

New Events

Other Press

User Preferences

Feeds

Blog Feeds

Anti-Empire

The Saker

Lockdown Skeptics

Voltaire Network

SDLP Youth: One President, One Island, One Vote

Comments (4 of 4)