Holiday-makers and business travellers may get absentee ballots
Wednesday, April 9th, 2008The Irish times is reporting that An Oireachtas committee will propose that people abroad on holidays or business at election time should be allowed to vote.
The report says the recommendation will be proposed as part of a series of suggested changes to the electoral register to be proposed by the Environment, Heritage and Local Government Committee. It will also recommend that a National Electoral Office should be established to take responsibility for an accurate voting register away from local authorities.
The report of the committee will be released on 16 April. It will then be up to the Minister for the Environment to make a decision on the next steps.
Currently, Ireland does not allow for any form of voting from outside the country, apart from for those involved in diplomatic service. About 115 countries now allow voting from abroad, with most of those nations allowing their emigrants to vote.
See Ean’s factsheet on external voting.
See the report in the Irish Times (subscription required).
Ahern lists end of forced emigration among accomplishments
Thursday, April 3rd, 2008Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, in yesterday’s speech announcing his intent to resign on May 6, listed the end of forced emigration among his accomplishments. He said:
In looking back on all the things I wanted to achieve in politics, I am proud that as Taoiseach I have:
- delivered on my objective to bring the peace process to fruition;
- delivered on my objective to see a stable administration based on the power-sharing model take root in Northern Ireland;
- delivered successive social partnership agreements which underpin our social and economic progress;
- delivered a modern economy with sustainable growth in employment and brought an end to the days of forced emigration;
- delivered on my objective to improve and to secure Ireland’s position as a modern, dynamic and integral part of the European Union.
 Read the entire speech on the Department of the Taoiseach’s website.Â
Gay couples want to return: Irish Times
Tuesday, April 1st, 2008An American researcher has said that recognising same-sex partnerships would allow Ireland to reap economic benefits by increasing the number of well-educated returnees. Currently, Ireland does not recognise gay relationships and its immigration law does not allow for Irish citizens to bring their non-marital partners with them if they move home.
Gary Gates, a senior research fellow at the Williams Institute in UCLA, says that there are at least 1,173 same-sex couples in the US that include an Irish partner. He found most Irish people in a US-based same-sex partnership are women, highly educated, and with an average age of 40. One in seven are raising children.
Gates told the Irish Times that more than 40% have a college education, as compared to an average of 30% for other Irish immigrants in the US. He says:
In that sense, you’re getting some level of economic benefit. But I actually think that the bigger benefits come in terms of the fact that Ireland is an economy that has quite a few global companies that need to be able to move their personnel around easily across national borders.
I think that legal recognition, at least for one section of their employees, for gay and lesbian people . . . both in a very practical way but also as a signal to employers that says, ‘we’re making this as easy as we can for you and this is just one obstacle we’re taking out of your way,’ I think all of that has positive economic benefits.
The Times article, written by Denis Staunton, also highlighted the situation of American Annie Rogers and Irish-born Ã?de O’Carroll, a couple in their 50s who are finding it difficult to plan for their retirement move from Amherst, Massachusetts to Lismore, Co. Waterford, where they own a home. Annie can only stay for three months at a time. The couple got married in Massachusetts in 2005 but their relationship is not recognised in Ireland. Ã?de says,
We are in some respects inhibited from having the kind of life we want to have by the sort of immigration legislation that’s in place because of the nature of our same-sex marriage and relationship. Were we heterosexual, we could both be dual citizens and navigate both places freely and choose to live where we want.
Ã?de also noted her belief that Irish society is more ready for recognising gay partnerships than politicians believe:
My experience in Ireland has been very, very positive, as somebody who works as an ‘out’ person, with family and friends living in a small town in Ireland. So I think it’s a question of the politicians not reading the climate of change in a way that I think that they should.
 Read the entire article (subscription required).
See Ean’s factsheet on the issue of gay partnerships and return migration.
Irish could lose right to vote in Britain
Monday, March 31st, 2008New Irish immigrants to Britain may no longer be entitled to vote in British elections if reform proposals contained in the Goldsmith Report are approved. News reports say, however, that British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is likely to reject the controversial proposal.
Peter Goldsmith, a former Attorney General, made the suggestion as part of a wide-ranging study on enhancing British citizenship. He says that Irish and Commonwealth citizens should be denied the vote in Westminster elections, but still be allowed to vote in local, European and devolved elections. He says,
there are two particular issues in relation to Irish citizens. First, the Good Friday Agreement confirms the right of the people of Northern Ireland to take either British or Irish citizenship or both. Anyone who exercises their right under the Agreement to identify themselves as Irish and to take up Irish citizenship should not lose their right to vote in Westminster elections as a result of any change made to restrict voting rights to UK citizens. Hence it would be necessary to distinguish this group of Irish citizens from others. I have not been able to examine the different practical means of doing this but this would have to be part of further consideration of the issue. My proposal is dependent on finding a satisfactory means of distinguishing the two categories in a way that did not affect the position of those exercising rights under the Good Friday Agreement.
Secondly, Ireland is of course a member state of the EU as well. This means that Irish citizens would retain the voting rights that other citizens of EU member states have in the UK. Hence the extent of the change that I am proposing as it relates to Irish citizens is to restrict their right to vote in Westminster elections, while retaining their right to vote in European, local and devolved elections. Also, as I have said, the restriction of the right to vote in Westminster elections should be phased, so that no person who is already resident or registered to vote in the UK loses the right to vote.
The proposal has been strongly criticised by groups working with the Irish in Britain. Fr Gerry McFlynn of the Irish Commission for Prisoners Overseas said:
If one is serious about acknowledging the special relationship and historic ties between Britain and Ireland, what is needed is a proposal which ensures that Irish people living in the UK, as well as both parts of Ireland, are entitled to vote in all elections, including the Westminster elections.The oath of allegiance to the Queen has been described as an empty gesture and it will not be popular with the nationalist population in Northern Ireland.
It is hard to see what purpose can be served by visiting such procedures on sections of the population other than to create problems for the future.
IECE replaced by Commission for Migrants
Monday, March 31st, 2008The Irish Episcopal Commission for Emigrants has been restructured. The move was announced following the March 2008 General meeting of the Irish Bishops’ Conference held in Maynooth.
The IECE has been replaced by the Commission for Migrants, which is a Commission of the Irish Episcopal Conference. This Commission is supported by a Council for Immigrants and a Council for Emigrants.
The pastoral outreach for this new commission is guided by the norms set out by Erga migrantes caritas Christi (The love of Christ towards migrants), a 2004 Vatican document.
See Erga migrantes caritas Christi
CIIC responds to Taoiseach’s comments on US reform
Monday, March 31st, 2008Â Coalition of Irish Immigration Centers in the United States has joined other US-based immigrant groups in criticising Taoiseach Bertie Ahern’s recent comments about US immigration reform. The organisation is calling for the Irish government to continue its efforts to secure reform measures to benefit the undocumented Irish, who are reported to number between 20,000 to 50,000 among the twelve million undocumented in the US.
The press statement in full:
The Coalition of Irish Immigration Centers joined others in expressing frustration that there is no resolution in sight for undocumented immigrants in the US. The failure of comprehensive immigration reform last year and the rancorous debate that continues on this issue has left the estimated 50,000 undocumented Irish immigrants more vulnerable that ever. The disappointment in Irish communities across the US is palpable after hearing the Taoiseach’s comments that indicate that the Irish Government has given up on any hope of reform that will benefit this segment of the Diaspora.
The stereotype of committed Irish advocates as “sitting in bars and talking nonsense” is particularly offensive to all of us who have worked for years to improve the situation of Irish immigrants across the USA. Irish Centers provide a range of professional services to immigrants including immigration, employment, housing, and counseling. We are skilled professionals working hard to effect positive change and to dispel this characterization that has long plagued the Irish community at home and abroad.
It is important to acknowledge the difficulty and complexity of the situation faced by immigrants who have lived here for many years. They left Ireland before the “Celtic Tiger”; they established themselves and built a life here. The option to uproot themselves and their families and return to Ireland is not realistic. Those who stay in the US are condemned to a life in the shadows, with few rights, as members of an underclass of 12 million undocumented immigrants. Those who go home, as the Taoiseach suggested, will set off a ten year bar which will affect them if they attempt to re-enter to visit family or to apply for any future legalization scheme. Immigration centers are working to make sure that the undocumented immigrants understand their rights and responsibilities and to ensure that everyone is aware of the consequences of their choices.
We cannot lose sight of the real problem, that the existing immigration system is broken. The Irish Government’s efforts to date to fashion a solution to this problem are much appreciated. The Coalition urges them to continue to work with groups in the US and to stand beside her citizens here to find a solution that is sensible and reasonable. The problem will not go away. Recent evidence from Irish centers indicates the opposite is true. New arrivals from Ireland are once again choosing the traditional path west to the USA. The last thing that we want to see is new generations of young undocumented immigrants joining those who came in the 1990’s.
Last year the Irish community across the US united in their thousands under the banner of the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform. In spite of a massive effort comprehensive immigration reform legislation did not pass. The CIIC encourages everyone to continue be outraged at the treatment of our fellow citizens and to work together against the injustice of the current system. We urge the Irish Government to put their shoulder to the wheel and stay the negotiating table until we get a resolution that will allow undocumented immigrants and their families to live here without fear.
Visit the Coalition of Irish Immigration Centers’ website.