Madam, – Irish people living abroad, even temporarily, are not allowed to vote (besides those in the Defence Forces and diplomats). This issue particularly affects me, as I am studying in France until June under the Erasmus programme. In so-called developed countries, the right to vote is one of the most basic and fundamental of rights and it is robbed from every Irish citizen who cannot be present at their polling station on the day of the election, no matter how legitimate their reason is.
Why should I be robbed of my vote when I am expanding my horizons and furthering my education abroad? Why should I be deprived of my voice when I am fulfilling a necessary requirement of completing my degree? When this Government’s actions have hammered students, and young people in general, out of proportion to any other group in society – why am I not able to do my patriotic duty in throwing out of power the worst government in the history of this State?
Then there is the plight of the growing number (projected to be 100,000 in the next two years) of mainly young people emigrating to other countries due to the economic negligence of those in the Dáil.
It is twistingly ironic that the very people who have been failed most by this State cannot exercise their right to exact their revenge. Perhaps it is a part of Fianna Fáil’s electoral strategy that these voices will be silent in the most important election of our generation. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Should the FF slogan not read “Real cuts – no suture?” – Yours, etc,