Let us vote for our President – Irish citizens denied the right to vote

IRISH CITIZENS are being denied the right to vote for the President of Ireland.
They can win an all-Ireland; they can even be a President of all-Ireland; but they cannot VOTE for a President of all-Ireland despite the fact that they are Irish citizens and live in Ireland . . . because they live in the North of Ireland.
Tens of thousands or Irish citizens living in the Six Counties are being disenfranchised by Britain’s partition of Ireland. And the Irish Government is perpetuating that discrimination.
And what about the millions of Irish who have been forced to emigrate in search of work? They should be entitled to have their say in who their President will be. Living abroad doesn’t make anyone less Irish.
The President of Ireland represents all Irish citizens — wherever they are. It shouldn’t matter whether you live in Donegal, Derry or Dubai. Other countries manage to give citizens abroad the vote, so why not Ireland?
Extending presidential voting rights to Irish citizens living in the Six Counties is a natural outworking of the Good Friday Agreement, which enshrines the rights of people in the North to Irish citizenship.
If this requires a Constitutional amendment then this should be put before
the people at the earliest opportunity.
We need to hear from Taoiseach Enda Kenny, Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore and all the political parties about where they stand on this issue — including ‘Fine Gael, The United Ireland Party’ and ‘Fianna Fáil, The Republican Party’.
And Irish citizens in the North and abroad need to know if their status as citizens is considered equal by any aspiring candidate worthy of the title of President of Ireland. Candidates who want to be President of Ireland need to say clearly that they support the rights of all the citizens of Ireland.