“It Just Feels Weird” – Irish External Voting and the ‘Brexit Irish’

Abstract

Ireland is a country with a generous citizenship offering but restricted external voting rights. The first (or emigrant) generation lose the right to vote eighteen months after departure; other non-resident citizens, including those in Northern Ireland (NI) are currently ineligible to vote. In November 2020 the Irish Government committed to holding a referendum which if passed, would give all Irish citizens, resident and non-resident the right to vote in Presidential elections. This chapter, based on interviews with people born in the UK and Northern Ireland who acquired Irish passports following the UK’s referendum to leave the European Union considers the topic of Irish external voting through the lens of these new passport holders, exploring their relationship to political participation in the Republic of Ireland.