A chara, – Liam Ó Cuinneagáin notes with approval that Ciaran Cannon TD has raised again the issue of giving emigrants voting rights (December 29th).
However, as a relatively small country with a large diaspora, I imagine a great many would worry about the danger of non-residents acting as a sort of “swing vote” ruling the country from afar, especially when it came to contentious issues. In any event, it should be pointed out that our electoral register is already in very poor condition indeed.
A report from a joint Oireachtas committee in 2016 noted that it is bloated to the tune of about 600,000 names.
It is surely necessary to figure out how to fix our electoral register, a vital component of any functioning democracy, before blithely entering into a discussion as to how we might expand it further. – Is mise,
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Rev PATRICK G BURKE,
Castlecomer,
Co Kilkenny.
Sir, – No representation without taxation! – Yours, etc,
MICHAEL RYAN,
Killiney,
Co Dublin.