Debate contribution: Election of the President of Ireland: Voting Rights

Debate contribution by Mr Robbie Butler on 6 May 2025.

MLA

Mr Robbie Butler

Party at the time

Ulster Unionist Party

Date

6 May 2025

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Election of the President of Ireland: Voting Rights

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4929907

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I sense that quite a bit of emotion and history is tied up in the issue. I acknowledge that, because, as we know, in this little place that I call home, Northern Ireland, identity matters, and people across these islands feel connected in many different ways. We have to be clear at the start of the debate that deciding who votes for the president of Ireland is not a matter for the Assembly. It is a matter, first and foremost, for the Irish voters in the Republic of Ireland and, therefore, their Parliament to decide. To be fair, as has been recognised, this is not a new debate. The issue has come up in the Dáil and the Seanad several times over this past decade. There has even been draft legislation brought forward and a commitment to a referendum, but, so far, there has been no vote. Concerns have been raised by legislators and commentators in the Republic around the constitution, how people would register, how to verify voters who are abroad and what the political consequences would mean. Even in the Republic, the issue is far from settled. Some have also questioned whether it makes sense to expand the vote for a role that holds limited powers. If you are not expanding what the president could do, for instance, you have to ask what you really gain by expanding who gets to choose them. It risks watering down the symbolism even further. Let us not pretend that expanding the electorate would not affect the kind of candidates who step forward. If you broaden the vote, you could also see pressure to rethink how candidates are nominated. What sorts of names would end up on that ballot paper? I say this with no cautionary sense of humour: if the vote stretches far enough for someone such as Conor McGregor, you could find his name in a race to be president. Whatever your view of him, he is hardly the kind of calm, unifying figure that you would associate with the responsibilities of a head of state. That idea may raise eyebrows, but that is the whole point. If the question is asked, the question is asked. When you change who votes, you can change what is possible. Let me be respectful but firm. It is not a matter for us to decide. It is a matter for the voters in the Republic and their elected representatives. However, if they proceed with it, I suggest that they think even more broadly about including the wider Irish diaspora. There are more than 100,000 Irish-born citizens in Australia alone. If inclusion is the goal, let it include everyone, and let it be done through secure electronic voting without the need for polling stations. Our role is perhaps not to shape the debate but to watch with interest.

474 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 12:27 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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