The President of Ireland…well, some of it

DOES it really matter who we elect as the next President of Ireland? Come to think of it, one could just as easily ask the question, does it really matter which party or group of parties we elect to govern us?

The present coalition of Fine Gael and Labour are basically following the same path that was followed by the previous coalition of Fianna Fáil and the Green Party.  And really, is it not the combined forces of the IMF, the European Commission and the European Central Bank that are ruling the country?
One might as well ask the question, does it really matter whether Clare or Tipperary win the Munster semi-final on June 19 next.
Of course it matters. And of course it matters who we elect as President later this year. Whoever we elect will only be a figurehead with no real political power. But he or she will be representing Ireland – or the Republic of Ireland – possibly for the next 14 years.
And, by the way, we call the person we elect President of Ireland. He or she is no such thing in reality. The people of Derry, Antrim, Down, Armagh, Fermanagh or Tyrone will have no say in deciding who will be the next President. But those counties are as much part of Ireland as are Dublin, Cork, Donegal or Clare. President Mary McAleese comes from Belfast but the people of Belfast were unable to vote for her or against her. 
She and her husband, Martin, devoted a lot of her presidency trying to build bridges between both communities in Northern Ireland and between the south and the north. But those links would have been far stronger if the people north of the border had a vote in the last Presidential election. When I talk about the people north of the border, I am, of course, talking about all those entitled to vote, no matter whether  they are Catholic, Protestant or dissenter, whether they are unionist, nationalist, republican or none of those.
Whether or not they exercise their right to vote is a matter for themselves. Just as it is south of the border. I believe that when we are changing the Constitution – as may happen during the lifetime of this Government – we should enshrine the right of the electorate in Northern Ireland to vote in presidential elections.
We cannot justifiably call whoever we elect to Áras an Uachtaráin President of Ireland unless all the people of Ireland over the age of 18 have the same rights to elect him or her. The same, of course, can be said of our Government.  While we call it the government of Ireland, it is really only the government of the Republic of Ireland. But giving the people of the north the right to elect members of the Dáil is a more complicated matter.
They, or their public representatives, should also have the right to nominate a candidate for the office of President. I don’t mind whether it takes four county councils or 20 members of the Stormont Assembly to nominate a candidate. Or perhaps there should be a combination of local authorities north and south of the border and/or a combination of members of the Dáil, Seanad and Assembly.
Then and only then can we claim that the President represents all the people on this island. By the way, while we are at it, we should also give all those Irish people who have been forced to seek a living abroad, a vote in all elections.
In promoting these ideas, I am not putting forward an extreme republican viewpoint.  The extreme republicans want to force the people of Northern Ireland into a united Ireland whether they want to or not. I am not trying to force anybody to do anything.  Nearly half of the people in Northern Ireland reject the right of the Queen of England to reign over them. They want a republican-type of Government. Well, they cannot have that unless and until a majority of them want that. But in the meantime, they look on the person we call President of Ireland as their president too.
So the least we could do is give them the right to nominate and elect the president that we in the south have come to take for granted for more than 70 years.
What are we afraid of?  Are we afraid the British or perhaps the unionists would object? I don’t see what they have to object to. It would be no skin off their noses. They don’t have to vote for a candidate if they don’t want to. Just as the people in the south have a choice.
We would not be giving the president any more powers than she already has. The president would have no more say in the internal affairs of Northern Ireland than has Mary McAleese. We would continue calling her – or him – President of Ireland but the title would have far greater legitimacy and relevance than it has at present.
Meanwhile, the presidential election campaign got really dirty during the week with the resurrection of that 10-year-old interview with David Norris. At this early stage, it is impossible to say how badly damaged Senator Norris has been over the interview. It will certainly make it more difficult for him to secure a nomination from four county councils. I understand he can depend on the support of at least 10 of his Independent colleagues in the Oireachtas.  Perhaps that is where his best chance of a nomination now lies.
Anyway, I hope he gets a nomination. I believe the people should be allowed decide on his political future.
Personally, I see nothing wrong in the idea of electing David Norris as President of Ireland. He is not a paedophile and he does not support paedophilia. The fact that he is gay is neither here nor there. We have come a long way since we treated homosexuals as depraved criminals.  However, there are still some very strong conservative influences out there who would not want to see a gay President in the Park and will stop at nothing to keep David Norris out. Perhaps they have already succeeded.