We can all buy a certificate off the internet that says we were kings and lords once but what good is it to anyone. There is an certificate already, its called a passport and its time the Irish government took their responsibilities to their citizens seriously. I agree with Maui Pete, give Irish passport holders abroad the vote which is our right, as laid down in our constitution. It is also our right to live in our own country and systems should be put place for our repatriation and resettlement. As someone said Irish politicians are not aliens, they are a reflection of Irish society, before the crash they weren't interested in us but now it's all about reaching out to the diaspora (how I hate that word). It looks like pretty soon Ireland will just be a giant theme park owned by the EC and Cowen will go down as one of the worst Irish leaders ever, so who cares what he says.

Those of Irish descent appear to be less concerned with certificates proving their Irish heritage & more concerned with gaining an Irish passport. A number of great-grandchildren I've come across appeared to be much aggrieved that Ireland won't stretch it's nationality laws to allow them to claim citizenship. Irish nationality law is extremely generous allowing citizenship to descend two generations to those born outside the island, citizenship descends from parent to child & from grandparent to grandchild. In theory it is possible (but yet to be proved) that it can retained indefinitely in a family provided the correct procedure is followed. It also covers the whole island, not just the 26 counties. Most countries allow citizenship to descend only one generation.

I disagree with the assertion that Irish passport holders should be allowed to vote in Irish elections. Not every Irish passport holder has newly left the island & is aware of what's going on in the country or even cares. There are Irish passport holders out there who have never clapped eyes on the island, have no interest in the place & no intention of ever visiting, are we proposing should be allowed a say in the running of the island? How many of the 70million who claim to be of Irish descent in America would then be allowed a vote in Irish elections because they can present an Irish passport at the Embassy or proof of citizenship on the Foreign Births Register? This raises the issue of who exactly should be allowed to vote & what should be allowed to vote on? Would there be a separate candidate to represent the interests of those abroad? Would each country require a separate candidate? Would the number of registered expatriate voters determine whether or not a separate candidate is needed? Where the nominated candidates come from? Should we be allowed to continue to vote for candidates in the constituency that we've left? Should the vote be restricted to referenda? We can't just blithely say, I have a passport, give me a vote, there are a lot of practical things to be taken into consideration. If someone has worked this all out & has put a workable proposal forward I would greatly appreciate if someone could point me in that direction.