Sir, – Gerard Howlin makes a persuasive argument against handing out votes in an Irish presidential or any other election to those with Irish connections who do not live here (“Biden visit marks end of era as passing time has thinned out Irish-American blood”, Opinion, April 11th).
It is quite chilling to think that nearly half of white Catholics voted for Donald Trump, many of whom are Irish-American. An electorate so easily persuaded to give their vote to such a divisive, misogynistic and hate-filled individual may hold distorted views of who might be a suitable candidate here.
“Alt Irish” advisers to Trump include Steve Bannon, Kellyanne Conway, Kayleigh McEnany and the notorious talk show host Sean Patrick Hannity of Fox News infamy, who proclaimed “the steal” of the last election and other baseless conspiracy theories.
The swing to the right within US politics has brought a swathe of Catholics with it, removal of women’s rights being a top priority.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/Q3V7G6MSJZBAZHTGUFOWZKIXAM.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/T4PBHES3N6LN6DSZHOI43Z3E2A.jpg)
:quality(70):focal(600x210:610x220)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/75YG7SMUQ4AUHRUG65256YQQJE.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/X2FAMBBAZFBEJO4IXEK2H72VEI.jpg)
There are many Irish-Americans who are not swept along with this tide religiously or politically.
However, in 2022 donations of more than €1 million were made to Friends of Sinn Féin in the US.
It is my belief that to vote in Ireland, one should live here. Keeping church and State entirely separate would be good too. – Yours, etc,
GERALDINE BIRD,
Doolin,
Clare.