Having left the country a mere 2 years ago, I was shocked to discover that I now no longer have the right to vote, until or unless I return, in which case I would have to re-register all over again. What gets me most is the fact that my UK, French, Italian AND American friends (just three of the 120 countries around the world), have voting systems in place, which allow them to easily exercise their duty/right to vote from wherever they are in the world!

UK expats 'do' have a restriction whereby after 15 years of living outside of the country they're automatically disqualified, but can re-register upon returning to live in Britain. My point is, at least UK expats have a system, which, in my opinion is somewhat fair, but when it comes to Irish expats – We have: 'nothing', 'zero', 'zilch!' We have no say in the running of the country, even though many would consider returning home to settle down for good.

 A lot of people will argue the point that Irish expats don't pay taxes in Ireland anymore, which is true, but neither do the UK, French and Italian expats mentioned above, yet somehow they are entitled to cast their vote? If people want to go down this route, well let me ask you this, ‘why then aren’t EU citizens allowed cast their vote in Ireland?’ EU citizens can only apply for citizenship after 5 years residence in Ireland, meaning they have no say up until that point, despite working and paying taxes there.

Irish expats living and paying taxes in Spain, for example, can only vote in Local and European elections, meaning their right to vote in General, Referendum and Presidential elections is completely denied. As an Irish citizen living abroad, I, as well as many other Irish expats, have absolutely no voice. We are simply floating around in limbo, not belonging to any particular place fully anymore, whilst not having our voices fully heard or consulted. Does anyone care? Are we supposed to just keep quiet and accept this blatant second-class treatment?

You may think that this has nothing to do with you, but maybe one day you will decide to leave Ireland for a job relocation, a partner or whatever the case may be, and then you too could be in this very situation. Your fundamental right stripped away from you and with no say in the running of the country you were born and bred in.

What I am asking of those of you reading this petition is to sign your name to show you support Irish expats’ right to vote.