As elections get under way in Iraq, Rosita Boland finds out how Iraqis living in Ireland are making their votes count
'It is time- and money-consuming, but like a wedding, you go to celebrate. This is the first time I will have voted, ever," says Iraqi Khalid Ibrahim, who has lived in Ireland for 10 years. As there is no facility for the Iraqi community in Ireland to vote in their native country's forthcoming election, he must travel to Britain - twice.
The Iraqi community here did lobby to have Ireland included as one of the 14 countries selected worldwide in which citizens could cast their vote remotely, but with no success. The nearest designated country is Britain where there are three voting centres: Glasgow, Manchester and London. Iraqi citizens must go first to register their names and then again to vote. The deadline for registering is tomorrow, and ballots can be cast between January 28th and 30th.
Ibrahim travelled to Glasgow on Monday to register. He has already booked his Ryanair flight to Glasgow for the 29th, when he'll vote. "At the place where we registered, everyone was hugging each other. We are taking part in democracy and we have never had that in our lifetimes before. We love to vote."
Ibrahim points out that some Iraqi citizens, in addition to paying for two return flights and taking time off work, must also pay for a visa to enter Britain. "The only ones who don't need this are the people living in Northern Ireland."
Approximately four million Iraqi citizens currently live away from their country. Some 500 of them live in Ireland: 400 in the South and 100 in the North. They are all watching closely the build-up to the January 30th election in Iraq.
Ibrahim is a human rights activist and spokesperson for the Iraqi community in Ireland. "We are very upset that the International Organisation for Migration [which is coordinating the remote voting worldwide] could not facilitate voting in Ireland. They already have an office in Dublin." He estimates that some 110 Iraqi citizens have either travelled to Britain to register or are making arrangements to do so. The other three-quarters of the community cannot travel, due to family and work commitments, or financial restrictions.
Abdullah "Sammy" Hussain Najafi has been in Ireland for nine years and runs a grocery store on Rathmines Road in Dublin. He returned to Iraq for a fortnight last year to visit family.
"Yes, I will be going to vote. It is very important," he explains. "It is very important to help the Iraqi people still living in Iraq, because they have suffered for a long time. It's very critical to go to vote for this election." Najafi will be travelling to London with three friends to vote.
"I live in Ireland now but I am still an Iraqi person and I hope in the future everything turns out good for Iraq. It is taking my time and money to go and vote, but I have to do that. Otherwise, if I spend the money on other things, it will feel wrong."
Dr Farmad Khashan is a GP and has been in Ireland for 22 years. He won't be voting.
"I was hoping to go, but I am so busy with the surgery, I cannot take the time off. It's quite disappointing that there is no voting centre in Dublin. I know my wife, and some colleagues, who cannot travel either, would love to vote. We have my parents visiting also, and they cannot vote either - they are here only for a few weeks and they are elderly. It would mean them travelling twice to Britain during their time here. I do feel disappointed, but that's life."
Dr Fuad Alsaraj is also a medical doctor. He works at the James Connolly Memorial Hospital in Blanchardstown, Dublin 15, and has been living in Ireland for five years. Alsaraj and a group of 11 friends are all travelling together to London to register and to vote.
"Regardless of religion, it is the right and duty and responsibility of all the Iraqi people to vote. We want a government and a parliament and a constitution."
He is not very happy about the fact that there is no provision for voting in Ireland. "I know plenty of people who want to vote and they will not be able to travel. For myself, it is inconvenient, but I don't care about the money. I believe it is our duty to vote."
Mohammed Al-Sadr has been in Ireland since 1979, and works as a freelance lecturer in IT. "I haven't been back to Iraq since 1979, but we should have a say in the future of the government. It is a right that was denied to us by the former regime, and it's a wonderful opportunity to participate in democracy in Iraq."
Al-Sadr is going to London. "I chose the city I could get the easiest and most convenient flights to," he explains. He is philosophical about having to travel to vote. "The Iraqi community in Ireland is quite small. There has been a lot of complaining about the voting, but the fact is that the logistics of organising so many votes in so many countries is not easy.
"Yes, I am inconvenienced financially and by having to travel twice," he adds. "But there are some people in Iraq facing death threats if they go to vote, so who am I to complain about having to fly to London to vote?"