Cape Clear Islanders are disenfranchised by restrictions on island voting

Members of the Cape Clear Island community who are working on the mainland are outraged that they have been effectively disenfranchised by the limited opening hours of the polling station on the Island. The polling station normally closes shortly before 4pm so that the polling box can be transported to the mainland on the last ferry .  Unfortunately this means that island residents returning from the mainland on the 5.30 pm ferry have no opportunity to vote. A compromise proposal was suggested by the Comharchumann that polling could continue in Baltimore for a half an hour or so in the presence of the polling officers but this has been rejected. According to Co Op Manager Mairtin Ó Mealóid, this is very disappointing, especially in the centenary year of the 1916 rising. Limited job prospects on our offshore Islands mean that Island residents are increasingly being forced to find work on the mainland which means that these people can no longer exercise their democratic rights.

Islanders have until 3pm today to register for postal voting or to apply to move their vote elsewhere. See Cork County Council Franchise Department.