so irish president up for grabs.. martin mcguiness puts his hand up but cant vote as he is from and lives in northern ireland but can stand… and amazingly the outgoing lass mary mcleese is also from NI so couldnt vote but was elected..
any other country allow people from other countries to be head of state( voluntarily!)

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do the people of the republic of Ireland see Ulster as another country – I really don’t know

do the people of the republic of Ireland see Ulster as another country – I really don’t know

I see it as part of Great Britain, which it is 🙂 .

Ulster isn’t part of GB.
Northern Ireland (a subset of Ulster), however…

Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom.

A united Ireland was explicitly part of the Irish constitution up until ten years ago (Good Friday agreement), so it’s unsurprising that someone from the North would be considered a legitimate candidate for the presidency.
The agreement re-worded things along the lines of recognising that a substantial of people in NI desired a united Ireland (and vice verca), so if one of these people wants to stand as president that makes sense to.

any other country allow people from other countries to be head of state( voluntarily!)

ve have zee germans! 😉

michaelmcc – Member

do the people of the republic of Ireland see Ulster as another country – I really don’t know

I see it as part of Great Britain, which it is

No, it’s not.

Taking the natioanlity and politics out of it (briefly), there are two big islands off the NW mainland Europe. One is ‘Great Britain’ and the other is ‘Ireland’. Ulster is on the island of Ireland.

Ulster is one of the 4 provinces of Ireland. It has 9 counties 3 in the RoI and 6 are NI. Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

The RoI has historically laid claim to NI however we have never had the wherewithall either militarily or economically to do anything about it. Also 1,000,000 Protestants might have diluted the very Catholicness of our little nation and probably wouldn’t have voted for any of the existing southern political parties in any elections. Our lovely Irish politicians may be dodgy but they ain’t stupid. But that claim stayed in the constitution as a face saver of Republican credentials. Consequently all the people of Ireland are entitled to Irish Passports and can go for President.

Martin McGuinness won’t be my choice – I think if John Hume threw his hat in the ring he’d walk away with it. We’d be very honoured to have him.

…And of course just to ruffle a few feathers, both Britain and Ireland are still, geographically, the British Isles.

Pretty much the same anyway, apart from two counties.

It is all rather bizarre – the McGuinness thing I mean – but Sinn Féin are politically astute (leaving any distaste we may have regarding them for a minute) and they don’t take punts that they feel are of no gain. I’l be watching this election with interest.

A united Ireland was explicitly part of the Irish constitution up until ten years ago (Good Friday agreement),

Almost there:

Until 1999:

Article 2
The national territory consists of the whole island of Ireland, its islands and the territorial seas.
Article 3
Pending the re-integration of the national territory, and without prejudice to the right of the parliament and government established by this constitution to exercise jurisdiction over the whole territory, the laws enacted by the parliament shall have the like area and extent of application as the laws of Saorstat Éireann[3] and the like extra-territorial effect.

Amended:

Article 2
It is the entitlement and birthright of every person born in the island of Ireland, which includes its islands and seas, to be part of the Irish Nation. That is also the entitlement of all persons otherwise qualified in accordance with law to be citizens of Ireland. Furthermore, the Irish nation cherishes its special affinity with people of Irish ancestry living abroad who share its cultural identity and heritage.
Article 3
It is the firm will of the Irish Nation, in harmony and friendship, to unite all the people who share the territory of the island of Ireland, in all the diversity of their identities and traditions, recognising that a united Ireland shall be brought about only by peaceful means with the consent of a majority of the people, democratically expressed, in both jurisdictions in the island. Until then, the laws enacted by the Parliament established by this Constitution shall have the like area and extent of application as the laws enacted by the Parliament[2] that existed immediately before the coming into operation of this Constitution.
Institutions with executive powers and functions that are shared between those jurisdictions may be established by their respective responsible authorities for stated purposes and may exercise powers and functions in respect of all or any part of the island.

It was put to a referendum and voted to be changed. Personally, I’ve always thought that Ireland is one nation and that there shouldn’t be any internal borders. i.e. give oireland back to the oirish…please 🙂

But the No-brigade had a big problem with it and the population voted for a change to enable peace. Fairy nuff.

Never mind, we’ll get it back one day. 🙂

you are not from another country as you have an Irish passport. I suppose you dont live there but you are Irish.
Nicely done Stoner

Never mind, we’ll get it back one day.

Can’t wait for the Grafton Street Orange Order parade!

Who owns Rockall?

any other country allow people from other countries to be head of state

Is there a constitutional barrier to a “foreign” (what does that mean?) being either monarch or PM in the UK?

Edit: what do you mean by “people from other countries”? People who aren’t citizens of the country? People who weren’t born in the country?