1 What is the voting
status you have
acquired called?
I’m registered as an EU national voting in Ireland.
2 How long have you to be living in Ireland to register under this?
There’s no residency required. You just have to prove that you’re living here. That’s all they ask for.
3 Can you now vote in any election that takes place in Ireland?
No, just European and local elections. Nothing national and no referendums, you have to be a citizen to vote in those. I’m not a citizen yet, because I haven’t lived for five straight years here.
4 Can any EU citizen vote in local and European elections in Ireland?
Yes, and it’s the same going the other way. Irish people can vote in other EU countries if they live there. My wife voted in local and EU elections in France when we lived there. I knew about it from this and then I enquired how to do it here. It was exactly the same.
5 How did you go about registering?
It’s really simple, there’s a form you can get online. I just looked it up on Citizens Information. You fill out the form and go to a garda station. You need a garda to check your ID and confirm you are the person described in the form, that it’s actually you and that you’re an EU citizen. You send that into your local authority – so Meath County Council in my case. Then I got my voting card the same time as the rest of the family. It’s free also.
6 So it was relatively painless to apply?
Yes, but you just had to look for the relevant information. It’s not on the front page of the Citizens Information website or anything like that.
7 How long did it take you?
It took me the time to fill out the form, 15 minutes, and then the time to go to a garda station. The garda on duty at the reception can do it for you, there’s no need to book an appointment or anything.
8 Are you going to apply for citizenship?
I will, hopefully I’ll still be here next year. I’ve lived in Ireland for four straight years now. That application will be a bit more complicated. Once you have citizenship, you have the same rights as any Irish citizen, all elections and referendums.
9 What voting system is used in France?
The voting system is different here than in France. In France, there’s no proportional representation. I have never voted in that way before. It depends on the election. In EU elections you vote for a list, if half the electorate vote for a certain list, then half of the candidates on that list are elected. For example, if it was here, you would choose a Fine Gael list, Fianna Fáil list or another party’s list. For local elections to councils it’s much the same. For the national elections to parliament it’s a majority system. You vote for a person and the first person to get elected in your constituency gets the one seat there and all the power.
10 If you go back to France are you still eligible to vote?
I would be able to vote in national elections in France, but now I have registered for EU and local elections here, I can’t vote in EU or local elections in France anymore. For these elections they check to make sure you’re not voting twice. CL
In my own words – Thomas Hubert
It’s always been important for me to vote and I think it’s great that foreign nationals can take part in local and EU elections. I’ve also noticed posters going up for a few candidates who weren’t originally Irish and I enjoy that too.
The EU means a lot in my life. I first visited Ireland as an Erasmus student and I’m now married to a student from that year. European legislation sets most of the rules on issues I cover as a journalist, from farming regulations to climate change, and it decides the income of many people around me through CAP. I could vote for French candidates at the embassy in Dublin, but not all countries allow this and after four years living here it makes more sense for me to be represented by Irish-based MEPs.
As a registered voter in Ireland, I can no longer vote in French local elections. So having this opportunity here is also important to become more connected to local life in Ireland. It’s a learning curve because I’m less familiar with what councillors can do here and who the candidates are, but that’s also what makes it interesting.
Read more
Women in Irish politics
1 What is the voting
status you have
acquired called?
I’m registered as an EU national voting in Ireland.
2 How long have you to be living in Ireland to register under this?
There’s no residency required. You just have to prove that you’re living here. That’s all they ask for.
3 Can you now vote in any election that takes place in Ireland?
No, just European and local elections. Nothing national and no referendums, you have to be a citizen to vote in those. I’m not a citizen yet, because I haven’t lived for five straight years here.
4 Can any EU citizen vote in local and European elections in Ireland?
Yes, and it’s the same going the other way. Irish people can vote in other EU countries if they live there. My wife voted in local and EU elections in France when we lived there. I knew about it from this and then I enquired how to do it here. It was exactly the same.
5 How did you go about registering?
It’s really simple, there’s a form you can get online. I just looked it up on Citizens Information. You fill out the form and go to a garda station. You need a garda to check your ID and confirm you are the person described in the form, that it’s actually you and that you’re an EU citizen. You send that into your local authority – so Meath County Council in my case. Then I got my voting card the same time as the rest of the family. It’s free also.
6 So it was relatively painless to apply?
Yes, but you just had to look for the relevant information. It’s not on the front page of the Citizens Information website or anything like that.
7 How long did it take you?
It took me the time to fill out the form, 15 minutes, and then the time to go to a garda station. The garda on duty at the reception can do it for you, there’s no need to book an appointment or anything.
8 Are you going to apply for citizenship?
I will, hopefully I’ll still be here next year. I’ve lived in Ireland for four straight years now. That application will be a bit more complicated. Once you have citizenship, you have the same rights as any Irish citizen, all elections and referendums.
9 What voting system is used in France?
The voting system is different here than in France. In France, there’s no proportional representation. I have never voted in that way before. It depends on the election. In EU elections you vote for a list, if half the electorate vote for a certain list, then half of the candidates on that list are elected. For example, if it was here, you would choose a Fine Gael list, Fianna Fáil list or another party’s list. For local elections to councils it’s much the same. For the national elections to parliament it’s a majority system. You vote for a person and the first person to get elected in your constituency gets the one seat there and all the power.
10 If you go back to France are you still eligible to vote?
I would be able to vote in national elections in France, but now I have registered for EU and local elections here, I can’t vote in EU or local elections in France anymore. For these elections they check to make sure you’re not voting twice. CL
In my own words – Thomas Hubert
It’s always been important for me to vote and I think it’s great that foreign nationals can take part in local and EU elections. I’ve also noticed posters going up for a few candidates who weren’t originally Irish and I enjoy that too.
The EU means a lot in my life. I first visited Ireland as an Erasmus student and I’m now married to a student from that year. European legislation sets most of the rules on issues I cover as a journalist, from farming regulations to climate change, and it decides the income of many people around me through CAP. I could vote for French candidates at the embassy in Dublin, but not all countries allow this and after four years living here it makes more sense for me to be represented by Irish-based MEPs.
As a registered voter in Ireland, I can no longer vote in French local elections. So having this opportunity here is also important to become more connected to local life in Ireland. It’s a learning curve because I’m less familiar with what councillors can do here and who the candidates are, but that’s also what makes it interesting.
Read more
Women in Irish politics
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