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Leo Varadkar backs proposals to allow Diaspora to vote in Irish elections

Minister’s endorsement seen as a major boost for campaign

PATRICK COUNIHAN,

IrishCentral.com Staff Writer

Published Sunday, December 30, 2012, 8:05 AM

Updated Wednesday, January 9, 2013, 12:39 PM

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Leo Varadkar

Photo by Niall Carson c/o PA

Ireland’s Transport and Tourism Minister Leo Varadkar is backing proposals to allow the Diaspora to vote in Presidential and parliamentary elections.

The Fine Gael deputy has told the Sunday Independent newspaper that he is in favor of allowing Irish emigrants to vote.

Ex-pat groups have campaigned for years for the rights of Irish citizens living abroad to vote in general elections and presidential polls.

This endorsement by the Dublin based Minister will be seen as a major boost for their campaign.

Varadkar told the paper: “My own view is that I would like to extend the franchise for the Presidency. I like the idea of the President being the President of the Irish people and the Irish nation.

“In circumstances such as this we would like to extend voting rights to all Irish citizens. I think it would be a nice thing to do and would be of real value.'

“Such a move would feed into the desire expressed throughout the Gathering initiative for closer ties with Ireland.”

The Minister added: “This would recognize, respect and validate the ongoing ties between the Diaspora and the country. This is not tokenism. The President is the embodiment of the spirit of the Irish nation.”

The paper reports that Varadkar also said that, in principle, he is also ‘supportive’ of the concept of allowing emigrants to vote in domestic elections.

Nster.com

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Searlit | Jan 02, 2013, 01:57 PM EST

Whatever you do, don't blame the young people for their lack of knowledge about their country's history. We have the same problem here in the States. It began around 1980. There was a book about called "The Dumbing Down of America." I can't say I read it. It's just that if people don't understand their own history or what's happening in the current world structure, they are much easier to control.

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jacersagain | Jan 01, 2013, 06:19 PM EST

(…more) These are those who might be defined as members of the real-day Irish Diaspora people entitled to vote in Irish matters (my opinion, open to discussion). Even within this group we would have to eliminate people who are so long gone from Ireland as to be deemed to have no further interest in Irish present-day matters of concern to us Irish living in Ireland and not them anymore. For example, Niall O’Dowd would be considered a viably-entitled member of the Irish Diaspora but you, George, despite you having an Irish Passport, would not be a member of the Diaspora entitled to vote, in or outside of Ireland. That makes for 21 million, less one: you. You are now free to ask if I’m really TDP on you and on Niall and on others like Townie who likes to TDP as well on occasions.

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jacersagain | Jan 01, 2013, 06:16 PM EST

(…more) Eliminate people gaining Irish citizenship by whatever means (Irish-whatever they may be, of Irish-Americans, Canadians, Australians, English, Polish, Latvians, Estonians, Romanians, Africans and, lately, Chinese and other unwelcomed “Others” by Irish natives etc.) who were never concentrated in Ireland and have no merit in being Irish citizens other than mainly being definitive bleeders of Ireland’s generous Social Welfare system (no longer worth chasing after our recent Irish fiscal cliff budget) or its generous Corporate Tax system and we’re left with just those native-born Irish, of joint native-born Irish grand-parents (at most extension), who emigrated from Ireland in recent decades. (More…)

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jacersagain | Jan 01, 2013, 06:14 PM EST

(…more) The original word ‘diaspora’ refers to the dispersion of Jews from their homeland throughout the world, now adopted to mean a scattering of language, culture or people that was once concentrated in one place. So, for “Irish Diaspora”, leaving aside reference to Jews (not forgetting Israel’s Mossad organization’s ingenuity to super-impose Passport citizenship upon any person in any country in the world of its choice, let alone Ireland), let’s read people that were once actually, provably, concentrated by generational birth in Ireland (about 70 millions of them). (More…)

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jacersagain | Jan 01, 2013, 06:13 PM EST

Ah jaysus Wou’knee, you’ve really asked for it! Can’t ya see I’m taking the pitt (TDP) (pardon me litp) on the 20 millions! Sweet-talking, born of Foreigners, Irish Minister Varadkar hasn’t got the brains to even think out how many people comprising the Irish Diaspora that might be entitled to vote in Irish elections (I’ve only concentrated before on Presidential Elections as an example but you could include General and Local Elections and Irish Constitutional Amendments as well). That leads us in Ireland to ask - JUST WHO IS A MEMBER OF THE IRISH DIASPORA?? - And just who of those members would be entitled to vote on matters of national interest to the Irish alone. (More…)

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WoundedKnee | Jan 01, 2013, 03:01 PM EST

jacersagain: Your post is unintelligible just as its author is unintelligent. There simply are not 20 million Irish citizens living outside of Ireland. There aren't even one tenth of that number. Stop posting stupidities in 2013, jacers. You're a year older--try to be a year wiser.

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Happyhippo | Jan 01, 2013, 10:02 AM EST

New years Resolutions for all those who cant think or see straight owing to overdosing on all that Christmas cheer and goodwill.(1)I solemnly promise to keep my gob shut when i dont have no clue what im talking about.(2)I solemnly promise i will not let bigotry cloud my judgement when a rational arguement is called for.(3)When stating the facts, i solemnly promise i will first check in the mirror to confirm it didnt crack,works every time,Happy New Year y'all

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jacersagain | Dec 31, 2012, 10:02 PM EST

*Happy New Year to one and all at, and on, Irish Central from Dublin, the Capital of the Gathering in Ireland in 2013* (Ok, now that I’ve got that off me chest, nobody can say I didn’t wish all and each the best for the coming year). Now lemme see and review comments below:… @ bobby, 8.30pm 30th Dec: thank you for pointing out my “million out” error; it should be 23 million. @ angrypaddy at 12.18pm last day of last year: you’re the fool ‘cos you don’t know the diff between Africa and Poland (and, *a whisper in yr ear* please learn how to speel properly). Now for the biggy: @ Wou’knee, the iggerant eejit… I have a precision tool called a calculator. Taking Niall O’Dowd’s figure of 70 million of Irish Diaspora as a base, I punched inta me calculator, that if you deduct those ineligible to have a right to vote under that foreigner, the Irish Minister for Idiotic Pronouncements, Mr. Varadkar’s calculations, you’d be left with 20 million. bobby corrected me on that to 21 million, meaning Irish vote counters would be left with 23 million vote slips to manually count out for a President of a country of 3.8 million people, of which about 2 million would be legitimate native Irish voters. Anyone who wishes to dispute this should take the matter up with my precision tool. By the time that manual count is over and its results declared, it will be past the time for the next election, thus proving my assertion that Varadkar is crazy.

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WoundedKnee | Dec 31, 2012, 03:05 AM EST

Pilib04--I haven't checked recently, but I think your figure of 100K is inflated. I have a hunch it's more like $80k. But that's not the point, the point is that US citizens are exempted tax obligations on that 80k or whatever because they have already paid taxes on that income in their country of residence. You don't believe in double taxation, do you?

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WoundedKnee | Dec 31, 2012, 03:01 AM EST

I agree with Ireland North that those Irish living in Ireland do not ipso facto have any greater knowledge of Ireland. In fact over the years I have been astonished at how little some of the Irish migrants coming over here know about their home country. During the conflict in the North of Ireland it was axiomatic that people from the South knew next to nothing about what was going on 60 miles north of Dublin. As to Jacersagain's extraordinary error of citing '20 million Irish'overseas getting the vote, this is utter nonsense. The Irish Department of Foreign Affairs has a pretty good idea of the number of Irish passports they issue--leaving aside the ones the Israelis issue-and they cite a figure of perhaps one million Irish passport holders domiciled overseas. Wake up Jacers, Christmas is done for this year.

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Redneck56 | Dec 31, 2012, 01:32 AM EST

I hope they mean actual Irish citizens who are living abroad.

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angrypaddy | Dec 31, 2012, 12:18 AM EST

@jacersagain only people who were born in Ireland who had to emigrate in the last 50 years (not their children) should be allowed to vote.Other wise half of Africa would be voteing you fool !!

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bobby | Dec 30, 2012, 08:30 PM EST

@jacersagain, you left out a million people in your numbers.

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jacersagain | Dec 30, 2012, 03:35 PM EST

Crazy Varadkar. Not a hope this will ever happen. Imagine counting 20 million ‘foreign’ Irish votes in an election for a President of a country of 3.8 million inhabitants. We always have enough trouble counting 2 million votes by hand, never mind a potential 22 million!

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IrelandNorth | Dec 30, 2012, 02:52 PM EST

To paraphrase Tina Turner - "... what's [knowledgeability] gotta do wid it?" Many Irish in Ireland under 40 (due to a revised education and designer propagandistic censored press and media) have been led to believe that Patrick Pearse was the lead singer of Boys Zone or West Life. James Connolly was Gene Butler's dance partner in River Dance. And 1916 is a minute after a quarter past seven in the evening. Strange as it may seem, geographical distance confers political perspective over natives who can't see the wood for the trees. Commendable forward thinking from an occasionally innovation-challenged administration.

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