General Chat

Caroline can you read?

I was not suggesting that there is a large Irish population in Canada - there are certainly a lot of people with Scots roots. What I was trying to point out was that with a federal state when one part of it breaks away then the whole edifice tends to come down. In the case of Canada and the Quebec referendum that did not happen of course.

The world wide population of people with Irish grandparents is often given at around the same as the current population of the island of Ireland.

Given your inability to understand that postal voting is not an option for 99.9% of Irish voters you may choose to read op posts properly before coming out with your inane comments.

Since the removal of Katie Hopkins the Daily Mail has a vacancy. BoJo being unavailable ( the DM cannot afford him an exec jet ) maybe you should apply.

[ hysterical lafrter off ]]

Dermot the vote is tomorrow!

"If the Quebec independence referendum had been passed then it is likely that Canada itself would have broken up / merged with the USA. It wasn't and today Canada is a strong state with a culture very different to the USA. The question of independence for Quebec or BC has died away."

:-D :-D :-D :-D

Shame there's no tears from laughing so much!!!

Oh Rollo...........

Let's be honest many people have Irish passports and don't live there do they.......

The restriction on Irish postal voting has nothing to do with fiddling results at polls.

The true reason is that Ireland has a massive diasapora all entitled to an Irish passport and potentially voting rights. As there are many advantages to having an Irish passport more and more people have exercised their option based on a grandparent born in the emerald isle.

The diasapora are for the most part far more liberal in their social and political attitudes than the political descendants of de Valera. As a result the Dail has prevented postal voting for the vast majority. Being posted overseas to work does not give postal voting rights unless you are an Irish Govt employee. A Ryan Air pilot may qualify but such people are not numerous. Additionally voting rights expire after being out of the country for 18 months - with the UK it is 15 years!

I cannot see much change in the postal voting rules as otherwise the country could find its elections dominated by expats. Given Irish emigration 1950-2010 was as high as in the C19 the effect will not wear off anytime soon.

If #8 is repealed the knock on effects for the UK will be very significant. The political influence of the RC Church has long been the chief obstacle to Irish reunification as many NI Catholics don't fancy govt from the Vatican. Changes in attitude and demographics in Northern Irelan suggest that a referendum ( as provided for in the Good Friday Agreement GFA) in the next ten years could be successful. A right balls up over brexit taken together with #8 repeal has the possibility of bringing this forward to the nearish future and remove both the Sinn Fein and DUP from London politics.

At least it would simplify brexit .

If the Quebec independence referendum had been passed then it is likely that Canada itself would have broken up / merged with the USA. It wasn't and today Canada is a strong state with a culture very different to the USA. The question of independence for Quebec or BC has died away.

Similarly in maladroit brexit negotiations London is risking the future of parts of a union where if one part goes the rest will surely follow.

Hence the acute interest in the London media about this referendum. It is not just a question of ethics but the whole future of the UK which looks more tenuous by the day.

Well, today is the day of reckoning! :-(

Restrictive but not denied. Also postal voting is open to abuse so they'd rather see you in person.

Rollo - you may well be correct about the outcome. Over the years, the Irish have done the unexpected on many occasions.

Over there, democratic elections occasionally produce unexpected results. But the democratic decision should be respected.

The postal voting criteria as published on the net appears to be very restrictive. That's why the constant discussions in the Irish media encouraged us to 'come home & vote'.

Yes it applied to all those groups plus you may be entitled if you were in other groups. Granted you'd have to make a case hence most people wouldn't be successful but it was still possible. You stated there was no postal voting "No postal voting Caroline" which is incorrect.

Caroline you are wrong.

The exceptions allowing postal voting only apply to a very few people eg civil servants, members of the armed forces not the generality of Irish citizens.

Hence the large number of people traveling home.

Dermot would not agree but I think the repeal will be passed.

Last night the grim start of the new series of "A Handmaid's Tale" put me in mind of the Irish referendum and all the wickedness visited on the country by the RC Church. The whole concept of the control of people's lives on the basis of religous tenets is intolerable.

Yes there is Rollo I put the link on the now deleted thread

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/government_in_ireland/elections_and_referenda/voting/registering_to_vote.html#leb892

As previously noted one of the reasons you can use postal voting is if you need to be overseas for work, and as your employment is in London or wherever you could have applied.

No postal voting Caroline

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/may/21/irish-abortion-referendum-expats-both-sides-head-home-vote

Maybe we all should have applied to do postal voting...never did find out why rollo didn't apply oh well

My ex's grandmother was a London born Parnell - so her parents could be Irish. :-D

My husbands side is full of Irish men :-D

:-D :-D :-D

I have absolutely no Irish (so far anyway).
My sister married an Irishman, though! :-D

I think my great grandmother was Irish , her name was Ellen Connelly

Just thought I'd join in :-D

My father & mother were Irish
And I am Irish too.
I bought a wee fidil for ninepence
And it is Irish too.

I get up in the morning early
to meet the dawn of day
and to the linit white's piping
the many's the tune i play.

(Seosamh MacCathmhaoil).

My late Father was Irish, but I've no recollection of him having a passport.
He did have a 1940 work permit during the war, but that's not the same thing.

Me and my children have all have applied for an Irish passport.
My mother was born in Ireland and as my children are grandchildren, they do qualify

Sorry Sue, great grandchildren don't qualify unless the birth of their child or grandchild ( your grandparent or parent) was placed on the Irish Foreign Register before your own birth.

As we have already made our application.
The births me and my children will placed on the Irish Foreign Register,
So long as it's done BEFORE any of my girls become a parent, their subsequent children ( my future grandchildren) will also qualify.

I too hope people vote for choice BUT I've a feeling many will try to influence that choice...let's hope common sense prevails.