THE 2024 EUROPEAN elections are coming down the tracks – candidates have been announced and priorities are established.

But the island of Ireland is now home to one of the largest populations of disenfranchised citizens in the European Union – Northern Ireland, which has lost its voice in Europe. It’s a unique case as the North navigates its standing in a post-Brexit world. Can Ireland’s political candidates and successful MEPs help the North to reclaim its voice?

Northern Ireland has an electorate of 1.3 million and a population of 1.9 million – every person born in the North has a birthright to Irish citizenship and, therefore, EU citizenship. The European Union was a key source of inspiration for John Hume and, in turn, for Northern Ireland’s peace process. In accepting the Nobel Peace Prize, Hume spoke emphatically about the influence of the European Union on the framework and structure of the Good Friday Agreement, stating that the European Union is “the best example in the history of the world of conflict resolution.”

Hume was a proud European like so many in Northern Ireland; how tragic a turn of events that the voices of Northern Ireland’s next generation of peace builders are now silent in Europe.

Following the Brexit referendum, a flurry of suggestions was made by political representatives to maintain some form of Northern representation in Europe, from observer status to the creation of a Northern constituency. The challenge with the latter is that Ireland has one of the most exclusionary voting systems in Europe; only Ireland, Malta, Slovakia and Czechia prevent their citizens abroad from voting in European elections.

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Ireland not only limits voting in European elections but prevents the vast majority of Irish citizens resident outside the state from voting in any election. Creating a system that would enable Irish citizens........

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