Voting rights in presidential elections unlikely to be extended to people living in North

The Government will not oppose a Dáil Bill this week which would pave the way for voting rights in presidential elections to be extended to people living in Northern Ireland – but the measure is unlikely to make it into law.

At its meeting on Tuesday, the Cabinet decided the Government parties would not vote down the second stage of a Bill proposed by Aontú and supported by Independent Ireland leader Michael Collins.

If passed, the Bill would mean there would be a referendum to change the Constitution to allow Northern votes in the next presidential election.

If the referendum was passed, the Oireachtas would then legislate for voting rights to be extended to Northern Ireland.

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The Bill is due for its second stage – the first debate on its general principles – in the Dáil this Thursday. The Government could use its Dáil majority to block the Bill, but will instead allow the Bill to pass to the next stage of the legislative process, the committee stage. However, it is not clear when that will take place – sometimes the Government allows Bills to pass second stage, only to effectively kill them at committee stage.

On Tuesday night, Aontú leader Peader Tóibín welcomed the Government’s decision and urged it to “help push this Bill through the Oireachtas in a speedy fashion”.

“Imagine the joy that Irish citizens in the north of Ireland would experience, if for first time since 1918, they could democratically participate as equal Irish citizens in an all-Ireland election,” he said.

However, Tóibín said he was “cautious about this”.

“Often a government can pretend to support a popular Bill at second stage, only to allow it to languish forever at committee stage, never getting the chance to proceed. This is a historic opportunity to enfranchise hundreds of thousands of Irish citizens here in Ireland,” he said.

A Government spokesman said the matter was being kept “under review”.

However, the statement suggested the Bill was unlikely to proceed.

“It should be noted that extending the franchise requires a referendum with significant political and operational challenges. As this Bill focuses specifically on extending the franchise to Northern Ireland, it also risks being divisive, distinguishing between different categories of citizens ordinarily resident outside the State,” the spokesman said.