AN Irishman in London is urging people to travel home and vote in this year’s same-sex marriage referendum.
Joey Kavanagh (28) has set up his campaign, Get the Boat 2 Vote to encourage Irish emigrants to go home and vote in the referendum on May 22.
“I moved here a few months ago and always knew I wanted to go back and vote,” Kavanagh said.
“Then I had the idea of turning it into an occasion and mobilising people with a similar mind-set and getting them home to vote.”
The campaign website went live on Friday and Kavanagh has been pleasantly surprised with the reaction so far.
“People have responded very well to it,” said the Co. Meath native.
“They’re looking into coming home now – figuring out if they can get there – people really seem to be acting on it.”
However, Irish laws governing the diaspora and their right to vote when living outside of Ireland could throw a spanner in the works for pro gay marriage campaigners.
Current rules state that those who have emigrated in the past 18 months are eligible to return home and cast a vote – provided that you write a letter to your local authority to state that you intend to return within that time period.
If you have not been resident in Ireland for a period of over 18 months, you cannot legally vote in the referendum, but it is possible that you are still on the register of voters.
In the year ending December 2014 alone, there were 16,750 applications for National Insurance Numbers from Irish citizens across Britain to work here - all of whom should be eligible to vote.
Kavanagh says his main aim is to feel involved – something he believes is driving people from all over Britain, the US, Canada and Australia to look into coming home to vote.
“I don’t want to feel useless here,” he said. “I want to play my part in Ireland.”
