VotingRights.ie has this week published a second edition of The Citizenship Papers - a series of essays that advocate for voting rights for all Irish citizens - while reiterating its calls for Irish electoral reform.
Founded in 2016 by the late Senator for the Irish Abroad Billy Lawless, the non-partisan VotingRights.ie calls upon the Irish Government to fulfill its commitment to hold a referendum extending the right to vote in future Presidential elections to all Irish citizens living outside the State, including those living just across the Border in Northern Ireland.
The Citizenship Papers were originally assembled for VotingRights.ie's 2021 conference “Citizenship, Emigrants, and Voting Rights Post-Brexit," but additional essays have been added over the years, leading to this week's re-release.
VotingRights.ie describes its new edition of The Citizenship Papers as "a landmark collection of essays and proposals on the future of Irish democracy."
Among the writers featured in the updated collection are citizens from Northern Ireland, Ireland, Europe, Canada, and the US who come from a variety of backgrounds - "ordinary voters, civil society leaders, legal scholars, historians, political scientists, and human rights advocates," VotingRights.ie says.
Notable authors include Ireland's former Minister for the Diaspora Ciarán Cannon, Claire Mitchell author of "The Ghost Limb: Alternative Protestants and the Spirit of 1798," political scientist Theresa Reidy, and Ben Collins, author of "The Irish Unity Dividend."
The new edition of The Citizenship Papers was officially launched at Leinster House in Dublin on Tuesday, October 14. Speakers at the launch included Independent Senator Frances Black, Fine Gael TD Joe Neville, SDLP MLA Cara Hunter, Queen's University Belfast Professor Colin Harvey, founder of 50/50 NI Aoife Clements, and campaigner Emma DeSouza.
DeSouza, the Vice Chair for VotingRights.ie, said the essays "advocate for voting rights for all Irish citizens - Irish passport holders living in Northern Ireland as well as citizens living abroad."
She continued: "Ireland has one of the most restrictive voting rights systems in all of Europe. Reform is long overdue and a vital stepping stone toward a united Ireland.
"We also see this as an opportunity to encourage the two presidential candidates to clearly state their views; are they content with the democratic status-quo or do they see an opportunity to make the Republic a more robust democracy?"
An important & timely intervention from @VotingRightsIE at Leinster House today.
Let this be the last presidential election where Irish citizens in the North & abroad are denied the right to vote.
Sponsored by @frances_black there was a clear appetite to advance this issue. pic.twitter.com/Eoe5gt8tZh
— Emma DeSouza (@EmmaCDeSouza) October 15, 2025
VotingRights.ie reform agenda
While releasing its new Citizenship Papers collection, VotingRights.ie reiterated its call for specific reforms: "to extend voting rights to all Irish citizens abroad, create Seanad representation for Northern and global Irish citizens, reestablish a Minister for Electoral Reform, establish a universal postal voting system, and align Ireland with EU democratic norms and reflect its commitment to freedom of movement and inclusion."
The group said in a statement: "At a time when Ireland’s global connections have never been stronger, these reforms are both necessary and timely.
"Irish citizens abroad advance trade, diplomacy, and culture; their voices must also help shape the nation’s democratic future.
"As the publication emphasises, deciding who gets to vote is not a technical issue; it is a defining question for Ireland’s next century."
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