Rose Conway-Walsh
Mayo · Sinn Féin · Ireland
“The very open nature of the Irish economy and over-reliance on FDI and a small number of large US firms exposes an economic vulnerability that covers an underlying deficit of €13 billion. With an all-island approach, we can tackle that properly.”
“An all-island development agency is critical to this prosperity. Competing for investment from multinational companies, based on five interlinked pillars of growth, transformational regions, sustainability and impact as promoted by the IDA is necessary to compete on a global stage.”
“I would need much longer than three minutes to discuss the fiscal implications of a united Ireland, such is the depth and breadth of the work already done. I commend all of those who have done it. Leaving all politics aside, the economic benefits of reunification present unprecedented opportunities for sustainable growth.”
“This morning, workers at Aer Lingus woke up to the devastating news that up to 500 jobs will be cut at the airline, impacting both staff at head office and flight crews. By all measures, Aer Lingus is a profitable company, reporting operating profits of €282 million in 2025. Its parent company, IAG, has operating profits of €5 billion.”
“We need to encourage student mobility across the island. I ask the shared island unit to intervene to provide funding for students from here going to Queen's University and Ulster University. Regarding the data, the NI Executive should work with the ONS, HMRC and the NISRA to improve the data on tax receipts in the North.”
“Will the Government meet representatives of the unions, the Irish Air Line Pilots Association, IALPA, Fórsa and other unions, to ensure that impacted workers receive full and fair redundancy packages and that we have full transparency, while also committing to wider statutory redundancy reforms?”
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“Mayo County Council applied for emergency funding earlier this year but was unsuccessful so we need emergency funding and some flexibility around the framework.”
“The EU drinking water regulations. I raise it in the context of the ongoing intolerable situation where 500 households in Ballycroy and Inishbiggle, in County Mayo are left without water for days on end. The way to solve this is to allow some flexibility in the multi-annual water programme to enable moneys that have been returned to the Department, or are to be returned to the Department, from one scheme can be reallocated to another scheme that desperately needs it. There is a gravity-fed group scheme in Ballycroy and it is run by volunteers. What has happened is some of the volunteers have passed away so they are trying to reconfigure the volunteers in the parish to be able to apply for the necessary funding. There is a way to solve this.”
“The only question is whether will vote for it or against it. Farmers know this. The IFA, ICSA and INHFA know this. Every farming organisation in the country is opposed to this. The so-called emergency brake is not worth the paper it is written on. It is temporary, weak, and entirely inadequate to prevent job losses, market distortion or the slow death of the family farm. There is much more I could say but I need to hand over to my colleague. The Minister needs to stop dithering. He needs to reject this agreement publicly and to work with like-minded states to build a blocking minority to this disastrous deal.”
“Irish farmers are required to meet the highest animal welfare, traceability and environmental standards in the world but now they will be forced to compete with cheaper, substandard imports, produced with hormones and chemicals banned here for decades. The European Commission's own audit in 2024 confirmed that Brazil cannot guarantee hormone-free beef, yet under Mercosur, exporters can self-certify. This is absolutely reckless. Let us be clear that this is not just an attack on Irish farmers; it is an attack on our climate commitments, on indigenous peoples in South America whose lands are taken for cattle-ranching, and on the global fight against deforestation in the Amazon. Ministers say that they oppose the deal in its current form but that line is meaningless. The deal on the table is the deal. There is no more negotiating.”
“We have had months and months of hand-wringing and vague objections to the agreement in its current form. The fact is that the negotiations are finished, the deal is done and the Government must decide whether it is for it or against it. From an enterprise, tourism and employment perspective, I recognise exactly what is at stake here. Irish agriculture underpins tens of thousands of rural jobs, small businesses, agritourism ventures, transport, food processing and hospitality. When the family farm is undermined, the entire rural economy is undermined. The deal would flood the EU market with 99,000 tonnes of beef and 180,000 tonnes of poultry.”
“It is the most ridiculous idea that the Government has come up with yet. I just cannot accept that anyone would sit down and make this plan. The removal of yet another public service from Ballyhaunis, after two banks and a court house have been taken, is disrespectful to these areas. It makes no economic sense, or any sense on any level.”
“For some, that visit from the postman or postwoman might be the only human contact they have for the day. This represents yet another example of our vital services being stripped away from our rural communities. Locally, people rely on Barr na Trá and Ballyhaunis depots to collect urgent post, such as passports or examination papers from schools. That access will be lost if everything goes out to Ballina or Castlerea. It is not acceptable. I am also calling on the postal workers' union to stand up against these moves. We need common sense to prevail. This plan is bad for workers, communities and rural Ireland. It makes no sense whatsoever to make postal workers undertake road trips in excess of 100 miles on bad and dangerous roads only then to come back to deliver the post. It is just bonkers.”
“The Minister of State's response is really disappointing. This is going to be fought by all public representatives across the board. It completely ignores people in rural Ireland and rural Irish towns. This is the wrong thing to do. The Government is copping out by saying that An Post is a separate commercial entity. It is being funded by the Government. There has to be an influence there to say that this goes against everything. There is a whole social dimension here that An Post and the Government seem to be ignoring. Rural postal services are not just about delivering letters and parcels; they are also about keeping people connected and supported. Our postal workers are at the very heart of our communities. Many elderly people and those living alone know the drivers by name and they often look out for each other.”
“The knock-on effects would be felt right across the local economy from restaurants and cafés to service stations and shops, all of which depend on daily trade generated by local employment. The Ballyhaunis and Erris chambers of commerce are absolutely against these moves. They make no sense whatsoever, economically or socially. The Ballyhaunis delivery service unit is a purpose-built facility, and relocating it would send a deeply discouraging message to rural towns already struggling to retain essential services. Ballyhaunis has already lost two banks and a courthouse, contributing to the erosion of local business and community activity.”
“Should the relocation proceed, staff would be required to travel 27 km each way to Castlerea, resulting in over ten additional vehicles commuting daily. This would significantly increase carbon emissions, directly contradicting both An Post’s and the national climate action plan’s commitments. Moreover, any electric vehicles based in Castlerea would still have to return to Ballyhaunis to deliver post, adding unnecessary mileage and increasing energy use and operational inefficiency. Beyond the environmental concerns, this decision could lead to a loss of an early and efficient postal service for Ballyhaunis businesses, many of which rely on timely deliveries to operate effectively.”
“It makes absolutely no sense to ask postal workers to drive more than 100 miles every day just to collect the mail before they even begin their deliveries. That is at least a two-hour round trip. We simply cannot have 13 vans travelling from Erris to Ballina and back again daily. It is just not feasible. It is bad for the environment and creates unnecessary risks for workers on an already busy and neglected road. The Ballyhaunis delivery service unit currently employs 13 local staff, most of whom live in the community. The proposal to relocate this service would not only cause significant disruption for these employees but also have a detrimental impact on the local economy and the very fabric of the town.”
“An Post’s proposals would mean postal workers serving the Erris area would have to collect mail from the newly opened Ballina depot. This change would mean the 13 postal workers who deliver across the Erris region, an area the size of County Louth, would have to undertake a two-hour, 100-mile-plus round trip each day to collect the day’s post before even starting their delivery. The Erris postal delivery area is one of the largest and most rural in the country and includes many isolated and coastal communities. The decision would have wide-ranging implications for workers, locals, community life, road safety and climate emissions. I met workers from Barnatra and spoke to some of those impacted in Ballyhaunis. The proposals from An Post are completely unworkable, unsafe and socially damaging.”
“I thank the Minister of State for taking this Topical Issue this evening. Absolutely no disrespect to him but I had hoped the relevant Minister, Deputy Patrick O’Donovan, would be here to answer. My aim is to bring to the Minister’s attention the unworkable proposals being put forward by An Post in Ballyhaunis and Erris, County Mayo. Neither the proposal to move the sorting depot from Barnatra in Erris to Ballina nor the proposal to move the Ballyhaunis sorting depot out of the county, to Castlerea, County Roscommon, makes economic, social or environmental sense. All of my colleagues, and indeed all of the Minister of State’s Oireachtas colleagues from Mayo, are united in rejecting these proposals. Let us take the case of Erris.”
“These are things that are being discussed anyway about education, climate, transport, health and housing. Young people are discussing these things in their own groups. They just need to be able to have a say in votes. It would be a shame on all of our houses if we go beyond this without progressing this legislation to lower the voting age to 16. There are so many reasons we have to do the right thing here and the Minister of State knows it.”
“Young people need to be involved in the decisions being made that impact them most. What is the Government afraid of? I do not say this cynically. No more than giving the vote to Irish citizens in the North or the diaspora, it is time to be confident about this and to be confident in the ability of young people, and the ability and insight of Irish citizens everywhere, particularly on the rest of our island. Obviously, there has to be an education programme with it also but I would not be concerned about the arguments that teachers are going to influence young people in how to vote. Have you ever tried to convince a 16-year-old to do something they did not want to do? Good luck with that. People are well able to make up their own minds but it would bring onto the curriculum the things that need to be discussed.”
“That is all we are talking about. I commend all the youth groups and the campaign that has led on this for years. In fact, some of the people who were involved in the campaign now have children themselves. We do not want to let this continue. As a TD who comes from Mayo, we see that what happens is people, like my two sons, go to college. If they are not registered to vote before they leave home, where do they register for their four or six years in college? It is not right and this all builds into the low turnout of young people voting. I welcome the Assembly lowering the age to 16, which happened recently, but then, just down the road, 16-year-olds cannot vote. We have to correct this. I have long believed that a lot of Government- and EU-funded groups, such as LEADER, should be obligated to have youth boards in their decision-making.”
“In fact, there are many people who are 86 who do not know the difference between right and wrong. We see how things have evolved over the years. Even at 16, while I may not have been party political, I was certainly very interested in what was happening on our island. I was very shocked and appalled by the fact that so much was happening in the North. It was always of interest to me. As a child, I could never make sense of the fact that a tiny island like ours was divided and that part of our island was owned by another island. That still does not make sense to me today. It did not make sense to me when I was 15 either or even younger than that. We do a disservice by not lowering the age. I respectfully ask the Minister of State to take the amendment off the table. We are talking about 24 months. It is the two years between 16 and 18.”
“Fáilte to everybody in the Gallery. I am delighted to see them here today. I thank the Social Democrats for tabling the Bill. We remember the Electoral (Amendment) (Voting at 16) Bill 2016. We restored it to the Order Paper in the Seanad in 2021 and it was seconded by Senator Ruane. We are a long time at this; we are too long at it. The Minister of State knows from his contribution that we are too long at it. I ask him not to let the permanent government get in the way of this. This is a political measure that needs to be taken. As was said, we can do it here ourselves and we need to do it. We cannot say that on one hand we are listening to youth groups and to young people and, at the same time, say they cannot have what they are asking for. It is vital that we do this. At the age of 16, people know the difference between right and wrong.”
“I urge the Minister to treat this not just as a single case of corporate insolvency but also as a wider economic risk and one that could hit hundreds of workers, drivers and small enterprises across the country.”
“This incident once again highlights the vulnerability of small operators when large logistic firms collapse. We need to examine the environment in which some companies are allowed to operate. Employees and those who are dependent on them, like subcontractors, need to be notified about what is happening at a very early stage. Earlier, the Minister referred to the fact that we need better corporate law and the ability to investigate, particularly where companies are owned by foreign investment funds. We need to have some way of ensuring that businesses that operate in this State do so in a responsible manner to their employees, the environment and the State.”
“Some of these businesses went to An Post but it stated that it cannot manage the deliveries they need. We are coming into a critical period during which small businesses make a lot of their money.”
“Some of that information is useful. I thank the Minister for it. I commend my colleagues Senator Maria McCormack and Councillor Claire Murray who are working in the Laois area and who pulled together all the agencies last week to try to get as much information as possible for people. This is not just a commercial issue; it is about jobs and livelihoods. Every unpaid franchisee and subcontractor struggling to keep afloat represents a potential job loss and another business at risk. I want to ask the Minister about the packages. He stated that they are not his responsibility, but many small retailers and online sellers have valuable stock that is tied up and that cannot be delivered to their customers. For some, this could represent a critical portion of their Christmas trade. We need to do something to protect those people's jobs.”
“I want to speak further about Fastway because there is so much to be spoken about. The Minister knows that Fastway is built on a network of local franchisees and subcontractors, many of whom have been the backbone of parcel delivery in rural and regional Ireland. These are small family-run operations which have invested heavily, some of them up to €70,000 in recent months, in vehicles, equipment and staff. That has been based on trust in the system. They worked hard during the pandemic to deliver items to homes in lockdown. Many of them are owed significant sums of money, with no clarity on whether they will ever see it. They are left in limbo too.”
“We need clearer legal definitions and enforcement to ensure the people doing the work are afforded the rights and protections of workers, including redundancy notice and holiday entitlements, even where corporate structures try to say otherwise. That is critically important. The Minister must also remember that workers all over the country are impacted by this, including in my constituency.”
“It would be very useful if the Minister and the Minister for Social Protection drew up a definitive list of actions and supports. I will work with them in doing that, so that if this situation happens again, we will have something - almost a pack - to present to workers showing them the do's and don'ts of what they are allowed to do, so people will have clarity around that. Will the Minister consider a number of measures to strengthen worker protections in similar circumstances? The first would be to have enhanced oversight of franchising and subcontracting models. Many of these arrangements blur the line between employment and self-employment.”
“They would need written confirmation of that because they do not want to find out, months down the line, that they have taken something that has jeopardised that. It is hugely important that we can protect those workers during prolonged periods without income when their employer has gone into receivership.”
“I thank the Minister and I know the discussions we are having obviously overlap with the remit of the Minister for Social Protection. In these situations, it is very important that there is tight communication between both Departments to put in emergency services. The Minister said people can go to their Intreo offices, but in these situations it is important that dedicated personnel are available to people to answer all of their queries. The huge shock that comes with a receivership announcement leaves hundreds of families devastated. There is a lot of confusion. In particular, what workers and subcontractors were trying to find out was whether any of the payments the Minister cited would impact on their redundancy.”
“Last month, one of Ireland's largest delivery companies went into receivership, leaving 300 direct employees' jobs at risk and impacting a further 600-plus jobs, including subcontractors, franchisees and seasonal workers. These workers have been left in limbo and are still technically employed by Fastway but no longer getting paid. What protections will the Department install for workers to prevent the situation that occurred in Fastway being replicated in other companies, whereby workers and subcontractors are left without any form of income for prolonged periods?”
“The impact has also been felt across our tourism industry, particularly in rural Ireland where visitors who hire cars to explore our Wild Atlantic Way or the Hidden Heartlands face rising fuel costs and toll costs. Sinn Féin is putting forward solutions tonight, and I suggest the Minister of State take some of them on board.”
“We are allowing people to profit. Now, we learn that private toll companies operating under gold-plated public-private partnership contracts are recording millions of euro in profits while the Minister for Transport stands idly by. The toll on the M50 alone brought in over €212 million last year, with €12.5 million in penalties. That is not a sustainable transport policy. It is a rip-off. This rip-off has a knock-on effect on the cost of doing business. Small enterprises, couriers, hauliers and tradespeople are all struggling to stay afloat as transport costs eat into their margins. The recent receivership of Fastway, one of Ireland’s largest delivery companies, highlights how rising transport and fuel costs are putting pressure on the very backbone of our logistics and retail sectors.”
“Yet, this Government's policies are making it more expensive by the day to keep a car on the road. Budget 2026 added another carbon tax hike on petrol and diesel, that is, an extra €3 on a full tank on top of the €15 already piled on in recent years. This is not climate action. It is a cash grab that punishes ordinary workers, families and small businesses who simply have no alternative. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have overseen an Ireland where the cost of living is spiralling out of control. Motorists are paying some of the highest petrol and diesel prices in the EU. Car insurance costs are up 9% this year alone, which is double the European average, while profits in the insurance industry soar. That does not cost anything for the Government. The Minister if State is saying that Sinn Féin has not costed things. These are costs.”
“-----because there is no problem in the first instance. Right through it, it goes on about how much better off people are. I can tell the Minister of State that people in County Mayo certainly do not feel better off. Despite the Government's lack of investment in public transport, however, it seems completely unaware that many people have no choice but to drive. In rural areas and in my own constituency of Mayo, there is more often than not no public transport option or no bus routes or train line and no alternative but to drive. The whole idea of carbon tax as the Government presents it is to change behaviours, but how can it change behaviours if it does not provide a proper alternative? For people in Belmullet, Ballina or Ballyhaunis, the car is not a choice; it is a lifeline.”
“I thank my colleague, Deputy Daly, for bringing this motion to the House. I can hardly believe what the Minister of State read out because, basically, the thread running through it is that there is no problem, and he is not going to do anything to fix it-----”
“This is not just about workers; it will also hit employers, including small businesses, charities and community organisations. Many of them, particularly those whose staff are funded by State contracts, have been told that they will not receive any additional funding to cover the employer contribution. This is wholly unacceptable.”
“We support the principle of auto-enrolment, but we have always said that we want the right auto-enrolment scheme at the right time. As Deputy Louise O'Reilly pointed out, this is the wrong scheme and it is the wrong time. The Government is out of touch on this with the scale of the financial pressures facing low- and middle-income families. Ordinary workers received next to nothing in last month's budget. Now, instead of some relief, this Bill adds yet another burden in the form of automatic deductions from already stretched pay packets. These are the people who have never worked so hard and never struggled so much. These workers have been forced to stay in work longer because Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have said that they cannot access their pensions until the age of 66. Let us be clear.”
“That is disingenuous and points to how this Government can in one sense be perceived to put something into people's pockets and at the same time take it back out. That is something which needs to be addressed. In relation to housing, the eligibility thresholds have not moved. This means that on the back of very small increases, people have been knocked off the housing waiting list. That is totally wrong. That completely undermines the idea that the Government is in some way trying to address child poverty or take more people out of poverty. There is nothing more impoverishing than saying to somebody, "You are not entitled to a home" or "You cannot have a home". That is something I want the Minister to address in terms of the alignment of social protection and housing.”
“I wish to point out something to the Minister. While I welcome the payments that have been made, they fall very short. I refer, in particular, to the cost of disability or the failure to address the cost of disability in this legislation. There is a disconnect between the Departments of Social Protection and housing. The Minister will know that many of our constituents in Mayo - I refer to those who are tenants - got letters in the past number of weeks to say that their contribution to Mayo County Council, and, indeed, to other councils, has been increased in line with whatever increases they have received. That is totally wrong. If the Minister is saying that people are getting €10 here, Mayo County Council is saying that it wants 16% of that €10.”
“It is an absolute disgrace that even today we still do not know which children were wrongly removed from the scoliosis waiting list or why it happened. Families have been left in the dark while children suffer in pain. There is a clear culture of secrecy, concealment and unaccountability at the heart of children’s healthcare and an utter lack of transparency. I want to talk to the Taoiseach again, after many other times I have done so, about Mikey Henry Benson from Mayo, who is still waiting for the procedures he needs. I want to ask the Taoiseach to ask the Minister for Health when she is in Mayo on Monday to meet the family of Mikey Henry Benson to go through the episodes and the pain they have gone through and to find a way forward so that we can ensure that Mikey Henry Benson stays alive.”
“Will the Taoiseach outline what reforms the Government will introduce to ensure that children's rights and safety are placed above any presumed right to parental contact in cases involving proven domestic violence or coercive control or where there is ongoing risk?”
“A recent report by TCD, UCC and Women's Aid confirms that family law courts fail to take domestic abuse and threats to harm into account when making decisions about guardianship, custody and access to children. Court-ordered access for abusers continues to place survivors and children at risk. Why does parental contact continue to take priority over the rights, safety and express wishes of children in Irish family law proceedings? Does the Taoiseach accept that this approach is inconsistent with Ireland's obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights to the Child, particularly Articles 3 and 12, which require the best interests and voice of the child to be primary considerations?”
“Fastway workers, subcontractors and franchisees were left high and dry last week. Some of them are outside the gate today and some of them are in the Gallery with Deputies Ruth Coppinger and Paul Murphy. They were told they would not be paid during the 30-day receivership period. It is eight weeks before Christmas. They cannot apply for another job. They cannot get jobseeker's allowance. They are afraid to take supplementary welfare allowance without having written confirmation that it will not affect their redundancy. There are serious questions as to how we can allow companies to operate like this in the first place. Will the Minister tell me today what precisely Ministers are doing to protect these workers, the small businesses and the road haulage companies that have suffered acute losses?”
“Sinn Féin's priorities for the inshore sector include revisiting, relaunching and implementing the Irish Inshore Fisheries Sector Strategy 2019-2023 in full, theme by theme, objective by objective and action by action; adequately resourcing the recently established inshore and islands producers organisations, the National Inshore Fishermen's Association and the Irish Islands Marine Resource Organisation; working with all sectors of the fishing industry to ensure a fair and reasonable distribution of the mackerel and herring quota and the quotas of other species as they arise; working with inshore fishermen and their representatives to identify new quota and non-quota fishing opportunities to build and grow new markets and identify financial and other types of supports that can be availed of during these turbulent times; developing a continuity grant that can be accessed by the inshore and islands fishing sector to promote growth and revitalise communities; and enacting and implementing the Islands Fisheries (Heritage Licence) Bill 2017.”
“The inshore fleet is a vital part of our fishing sector, with almost 2,000 vessels. It provides more than half the employment in our seafood industry, sustaining coastal communities across the island. We will continue the proud history and tradition of Irish inshore fishing by collaborating with the sector and putting in place supports to ensure its growth.”
“We also need sanctions against the rogue states that continue to overfish and we need transparency around who within the EU benefits from these cosy arrangements. It is vital for our fishing industry that our voice is finally heard loud and clear in Brussels . Our message is simple, enough is enough. The days of polite diplomacy and weak negotiation are over. Ireland's coastal and island communities deserve fairness, sustainability and respect. Our fishermen are not asking for favours. They are asking for justice and a future in the industry that built their communities and fed our nation. Sinn Féin will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with them in Brussels, in this House and in every town and village across the island. I will say a few words about the inshore sector.”
“It has allowed foreign super-trawlers to plunder our waters while our own fleets are being decommissioned. If the EU continues down this road, our seafood sector could collapse within a year, wiping out 2,000 jobs and hundreds of millions of euro in exports. For fishing communities such as in my constituency in Mayo and around the coast, this is a crisis, which is why Sinn Féin is calling for urgent action. The Government must immediately enter negotiations with the European Commission on an emergency financial package to sustain our fishing and seafood industry through this crisis. Those that have been punished for compliance must not be left to sink while the EU dithers. Second, we need a radical reset of the Common Fisheries Policy and for the Irish Government to fight for a fair share of quota in our own waters.”
“They are the difference between survival and collapse for Irish fishing communities, so let us be clear about what has happened here. For years, fleets from countries such as Norway, Iceland and Russia among others have engaged in reckless overfishing of mackerel and other shared stocks. The European Commission has stood idly by. Year after year, it has expressed concern but taken no action. Now the punishment falls not on those who broke the rules but on those who played by them. Ireland, which controls 12% of EU waters yet receives less than 6% of the quota, is once again being made to pay the price for the failures of others. The reality is that the Common Fisheries Policy is broken. It is unjust, ineffective and fundamentally anti-Irish. It rewards those who over-fish and over penalises those who protect the resource.”
“For months, we in Sinn Féin and our colleague Deputy Mac Lochlainn have been calling on the Government to allow statements on fisheries to take place in this House. In that context, I welcome the opportunity today to finally debate the future of an industry that is at breaking point. This is an industry that has been failed by successive Governments and abandoned by Brussels, but we have reached the point, as a result of years of neglect, where it is in crisis. Across our coastal communities from Donegal to Cork and from Mayo to Wexford, families that have fished these waters for generations are facing devastation. The latest international scientific advice has confirmed what many feared, namely a 70% cut to the mackerel quota alongside severe reductions for blue whiting and boarfish. These are not abstract figures.”
“I raise the issue of home help, particularly in County Mayo. There are 265 homes waiting for home help. These are people who are deemed to need home help to be able to stay in their own home, but they do not have it. Home and Community Care Ireland, HCCI, is asking for two things, which I too advocate. It states that waiting lists are too often treated as a HSE operational issue, and not a political issue like children's assessments of need, outpatient appointments or accident and emergency trolleys. That must change in relation to home help. HCCI also wants to see a waiting list task force, targeted funding for the black spot areas and block booking of home care hours. This has to be done, as does retention and recruitment.”
“Thousands of people living on this island, citizens of other countries, can vote for the president of their country of origin. Why not Ireland? What is the Government afraid of? Let us be honest here; this is not about logistics, complexity or cost but about a political choice to deny Irish citizens the right to vote for their President, a choice made by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, which fear that extending the vote would expose their lack of representation in the North and remind the diaspora of the economic policies that forced them to leave our shores. My deepest hope is that this next President will be the last Head of State on this partitioned island.”
“In Global Ireland: Ireland's Diaspora Strategy 2020-2025, the Government committed to holding a referendum on this issue but here we are, almost at the end of 2025, and another presidential election will come and go while Irish citizens in the North remain voiceless in the choice of their Head of State. Where is the referendum? Where is the courage to act? There is no place left for this Government to hide in relation to presidential voting rights. This has to be put right now. We must correct it in the first two years of this Presidency. It is plainly unacceptable and morally wrong that the Government has failed to act on this promise. Ireland is now an outlier in the democratic world. Over 150 countries already grant their citizens abroad the right to vote in their national elections.”