Tá ceart ag gach saoránach na hÉireann vóta a chaitheamh i dtoghchán na hUachtaránachta
Who we are: VotingRights.ie was founded in 2016 by a small group of Irish citizens concerned that Irish emigrants and citizens in Northern Ireland are denied their basic rights to vote in any election because of current restrictions. These restrictions included the time emigrants can be away from Ireland (only18 months) before being dropped from the voting rolls and the requirement that they must be on the island to vote on Election Day.
These restrictions put the Republic at odds with the vast majority of democracies around the world and with other nations that make up the E.U. According to the most recent IDEA global democracy report (January, 2021) a total of 125 states and territories allow people living abroad to participate in legislative elections, 88 allow participation in presidential elections and 73 countries and territories allow citizens overseas to participate in referendums. https://www.idea.int/our-work/what-we-do/global-state-democracy. Ireland is not one of them
Our Vision – All citizens of Ireland should have the right to vote in Presidential elections. Voting Rights.ie is, therefore, an All-Ireland initiative. Our immediate goal is the passage of a national referendum allowing Irish emigrants and citizens living in Northern Ireland the right to vote in future Presidential Elections. This referendum was one of the key recommendations of the 2013 Constitutional Convention and is included in the current programme of government.
Since our founding we launched several initiatives including development of a policy paper for the 2017 Global Civic Forum where Senator Billy Lawless gave the key note speech. In March of 2021 we organized a virtual conference entitled “Citizenship, Emigrants and Voting Rights Post Brexit” with the support of the Clinton Institute for American Studies at UCD. We also released at the conference a major set of 40 essays entitled “The Citizenship Papers.” https://citizenshippapers.ie/.
We believe that there is an urgent need to update Ireland’s elections laws and mechanisms to meet E.U. standards. Ireland’s electoral system should include a national voter registration system, a more expansive postal voting system and allow all citizens the right to vote in Presidential and Seanad elections. See www.VotingRights.ie for more details about our manifesto.
Our Team:
Former Senator for the Diaspora Billy Lawless from Galway is the Chair of our executive committee and one of several co-founders. Billy immigrated to Chicago in 1998 and created successful restaurant business and there became a leader in immigration reform. Billy was chosen to introduce President Obama when the President announced his DACA immigration reform plan. Billy was appointed to the Seanad in 2016 by then Taoiseach Edna Kenny becoming the first Senator to represent emigrants and the wider Diaspora. Billy is a recipient of the Irish Presidential Distinguished Service Award.
Emma DeSouza, the well-known citizen activist, acts as our Vice Chair in Northern Ireland. Emma is the coordinator of Women in Leadership at the National Women’s Council of Ireland. She is also a writer and political commentator for @IrishTimesOped. She and her husband Jake now live in Fermangh about 5 miles from the Border
Hilary Bierne, originally from Roscommon is the Chair of the NYC Saint Patrick’s Day Parade Foundation and represents Voting Rights.ie in New York City. Hilary has been the Executive Secretary of the NYC Saint Patrick’s Parade since 2002.
Noreen Bowden is Director of Policy and a co-founder of Voting Rights.ie. An expert in the field of emigration studies and the global Irish diaspora, Noreen served for many years as the Director of the Dublin based Emigrant Advice Network, and wrote extensively about emigration and diaspora at her website, GlobalIrish.ie.
Tara Grace Connelly is our outreach officer in Northern Ireland. A native of West Belfast and a graduate of Queens University Tara is the former chairwoman of the Northern Ireland Youth Forum and the Belfast Youth Forum. She is also a graduate of the Washington Ireland Program Class of 2017. In 2020 she was appointed to represent Ireland as a Youth Delegate to the United Nations
Larry Donnelly A legal research lecturer at National University of Ireland, Galway (NUIG), he is a regular political commentator on RTÉ Radio 1 and the nightly television news bulletin, RTÉ News on Two, also contributing to his local radio station Galway Bay FM. He has a political column in The Sunday Business Post.
Ben Kelly, originally from Derry and now a London based journalist Ben is the Vice Chair of VICA http://www.vica.ie/, as well as our press spokesperson and Director of Social Media. Ben is Deputy Social Media Editor at The Independent. As a writer, he also covers political and social stories from Ireland, and regularly contributes comment pieces to Voices and other long read features.
Professor Liam Kennedy, the Executive Director of the Clinton Institute for American Studies at UCD, directs our conference proceedings. He is currently researching contemporary Irish America and also preparing edited books on the election and presidency of Donald Trump and on diaspora and diplomacy.
Morgan O’Sullivan is the Acting Chair of VotingRights.ie. He is originally from Cork, Ireland, and currently serves as the Director of Financial Aid Communications and Operations at Lynn University in Florida. He has written extensively about voting rights in a number of outlets.
Rachel O’Sullivan, originally from Dublin is Director of Research. Rachel is a member of the Social Democrats. She has a Ph.D. in German History and is currently doing a Postdoc at the Centre for Holocaust Studies in Munich, Germany
Kevin J. Sullivan is a co-founder of Voting Rights.ie and served for nine years as the Chair of the Washington Ireland Program (WIP). Kevin is currently the Project Director for the US based Ad Hoc Committee to Protect the Good Friday Agreement. Kevin was instrumental in creating Civic Link, a joint USA/Irish cross community/ cross border reconciliation initiative, which was announced in the immediate aftermath of the GFA by President Clinton. Civic Link would reach over 12,500 secondary students.
We pay tribute to the late Former Senator for the Diaspora Billy Lawless from Galway. Billy wass the Chair of our executive committee and one of several co-founders. Billy immigrated to Chicago in 1998 and created successful restaurant business and there became a leader in immigration reform. Billy was chosen to introduce President Obama when the President announced his DACA immigration reform plan. Billy was appointed to the Seanad in 2016 by then Taoiseach Edna Kenny becoming the first Senator to represent emigrants and the wider Diaspora. Billy was a recipient of the Irish Presidential Distinguished Service Award.
We also extend our gratitude to Ciarán Cannon, former Minister of State for the Diaspora and International Development, who served as Vice Chair of VotingRights.ie until 2025. A seasoned politician, he who represented Galway East in the Dáil Éireann until his retirement from politics in 2024.
Voting Rights.ie 