Immigrants' agencies have banded together to criticise the Government for "its complete lack of any attempt" to encourage non-Irish residents to vote in the local and European elections, writes Anne Lucey.
The elections were an ideal opportunity for greater integration in what was now a multi-cultural society, according a spokesman for the agencies.
Thousands of asylum seekers, refugees and migrant workers "ordinarily resident" here since last September are entitled to vote in the local elections next June. EU citizens can in addition vote in the European elections.
In Galway alone some 2,000 migrants are eligible to vote, according to figures by Integrating Ireland, the national network of refugee and asylum seekers.
The agencies are concerned that refugees and asylum seekers, even when they have registered, will be turned away at polling stations. This is because their Garda National Immigration Bureau issued photo-card is not among the designated list of acceptable IDs alongside passports and driving licences, said Dr Jean Pierre Eyanga, project officer, Integrating Ireland. "More often than not this is the only ID they have," he said.
Those refugees and asylum seekers who have passports must hand them up to the Department of Justice while in the asylum process, he explained. However, the ID card issued by the Garda National Immigration Bureau actually states on the back "this is not an ID", Dr Eyanga said.
Local Garda and polling station staff should be properly informed "or there remains a grave risk that Ireland's new communities will be effectively disenfranchised," he added.
He urged the Government and political leaders to mount a specific campaign and "seize the opportunity" to encourage Ireland's new communities to vote. "A failure to do so will be a missed opportunity for greater integration."
People can still register for the supplementary register of electors, according to the joint statement by Integrating Ireland, the Immigration Council of Ireland, the National Consultative Committee on Racism and Interculturalism and the Irish Refugee Council. Registration can take place up to 15 days before the elections and application forms are available at post offices, public libraries, and Garda stations.
It is not yet known how many of the thousands of eligible non-nationals are exercising their right to vote. However, in the rural wards in one county, Kerry, over 1,000 non-nationals have registered, the majority of these in the tourist belt in the south of the county. In Killarney, where there are enough immigrant hotel workers to make up a quota in the town council elections, there is heavy canvassing for their vote by candidates.
The final register of electors came into effect in mid-February, but people have until May 24th to register, a spokesperson for the Department of Environment and Local Government said. The Department's franchise section dealing with local elections was in talks with the Department of Justice over the ID issue.