Irish emigrants should be given the opportunity to vote in both Dáil and Seanad elections, according to the historian and journalist Mr Tim Pat Coogan.
Addressing the Father Joe Taaffe Summer School on "Irish Emigration in the Third Millennium" in Castlebar, Mr Coogan said that most other EU countries gave their emigrants the right to vote in national elections. "It's the cute-hoor mentality of local cumainn, concerned about balance in their five-seater should the emigrants' views be taken on board, that is preventing progress on the issue," he said.
The three-day summer school celebrated the Irish diaspora.
"Our emigrants are a priceless resource and weekends like this heighten our consciousness of their contribution and make us aware of the two extremes among those who have left," Mr Coogan said. "While many are very successful, and at the top of the ladder in terms of success in their adopted country, many more fall through the cracks and are barely able to survive.
"Our approach to the Americans was to preach to them, telling them not to support the IRA. We then wanted them to use our national carrier, Aer Lingus, to travel to Ireland at double the price of other airlines. When they got here, we expected them to buy Waterford Crystal and kiss the Blarney Stone and then to go back and we'd forget about them.
"The Department of Foreign Affairs is making significant strides in networking and linking in with our emigrants around the world. We saw the value of this in the successful mobilising of the American influence in arriving at the Good Friday agreement, but more needs to be done."