Frank has responded to my note below on why I think votes should be extended to emigrants.
First, I would like to clarify one thing I wrote that Frank (rightly) noted. I cannot be stripped of my citizenship even if I refuse to obey U.S. law. When I wrote "If I want to remain a citizen" I should have added "and not be an outlaw". My only other option is to renounce my American citizenship.
Also, when Frank claims I'm advocating "therapeutic politics" by noting that extending the vote to emigrants will enhance their sense of being valued, I had earlier laid out a case that emigrants act as ambassadors and promoters of the country. This may not always be apparent to people here, but often emigrants are instrumental in driving investment and tourism to Ireland.
I heard a good example of this the other day on the radio. A leading Irish computer games retailer is being bought out by a large American company. This investment is obviously commercially driven, but the fact that this company even considered Ireland for its first European venture was due to the fact that an emigrant was involved in the decision-making process. I know most Irish people would find this difficult to accept, but most Americans (particularly outside the Northeast) have only the vaguest idea as to where Ireland is or what it's like here. My wife was often asked if Ireland was in Europe.
Frank's feelings and my instinct are no real measure of how emigrants might vote. Where those emigrants chose to go to may provide some indication as to how they would vote if they could. I would be surprised if the emigrants who went to the US would vote for greater government intrusion in peoples' lives and/or further European integration, but that's just my own instinct.
