Updated 5.56pm
FOR IRISH CITIZENS living abroad, voting rights are a touchy subject.
Only those living in Ireland can register to vote in referendums and elections under current legislation, although the Government has faced frequent calls for these rights to be extended to the diaspora.
Both a report by an Oireachtas committee and the Constitutional Convention have recommended the move.
The Minister with responsibility for these Irish emigrants, Jimmy Deenihan, said in March that ”it is necessary to analyse the full range of practical and policy issues” before any decision is made on whether to hold a referendum on the topic.
Irish citizens in cities around the world have started gathering to call for those still at home to use their vote in the upcoming referendums.
Director Brendan Fay, one of those in attendance at an event in Manhattan and who was among the first same-sex couples to marry in Canada in 2003, said he was “heartened by the strong support within the New York Irish community”.
“I am delighted to stand with my fellow Irish citizens in New York to let the Yes Equality campaign knows that we admire and support the amazing work they are doing in advance of this referendum.”
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