Irish born people in Britain have right to vote in UK referendum

Chairman of European Movement (EM) Ireland Maurice Pratt is urging Irish parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents and friends to ‘phone or text their Irish relatives and contacts in Britain today to remind them to vote in the UK’s EU referendum tomorrow, Thursday June 23.

“Although it may seem counter-intuitive, Irish born people in Britain have the right to vote in tomorrow’s UK referendum on its EU membership”, said Mr Pratt.

'While European Movement Ireland is not advocating how people should vote, we believe strongly that a European Union without the UK as a member would be bad for Ireland, bad for Europe and bad for the UK itself.”

EM Ireland’s Executive Director Noelle O'Connell added, “The vote on their continued EU membership is ultimately a decision for the UK electorate.

'Whatever the outcome, it will be respected. That said, we have a particular interest, a special voice and a unique perspective in this debate, not least the 500,000 or so Irish people living in the UK and the wider Irish diaspora of 5 million British people with at least one Irish born grandparent.”

“While believing that a ‘Brexit’ would be a very undesirable result, European Movement Ireland has focussed our efforts on providing independent, factual information about the referendum as well an online #PhoneAFriend drive to get the vote out.

'We have now reached almost 3 million people online and we know many Irish people registered to vote by the deadline. No matter how people decide to vote, it’s absolutely vital that they have their say on this once in a generation decision tomorrow,” concluded Ms O Connell.