Sir, - It is blackly entertaining for an Irish emigrant on this Election Day (November 5th) in America to read, in today's Irish Times on the Web, John Waters's article on votes for emigrants. As I have no remote franchise to exercise in Ireland, I decided recently to register to vote in the US, on the basis that this country warred against Britain on the "No Taxation Without Representation" issue. Though not a US citizen, I have paid taxes here for two years.
The voter registration form required me to swear that I was US citizen before I could be allowed a franchise here, so I was unable to register as I am merely a Resident Alien. Thus, I am politically alienated by two countries.
Waters's point that it is easy nowadays for Irish emigrants to be well informed about home issues is perfectly exemplified by the availability of your paper on the Internet, which I read almost daily.
Finally, if Irish legislators are serious about enabling emigrants to vote, a right already implied in the Constitution, they must do so credibly, not by assigning a few chairs in the Senate to the Irish abroad, but by giving us a real presence in the Dail itself, the true engine room of legislation. Anything less would be dismissive: we would be defined as second class voters, not to be taken seriously.
Postscript: A colleague has just told me that the bars in many counties here close until all votes are cast. It's a frightening practice, isn't it? Suddenly I am drowned in nostalgia without a pint to console me. - Yours, etc.,
PO Box 794,
Vail, CO 81658-0794.
e-mailaddress: odeascn.org