Florine Amenta: Just a week ago, you announced that you had finally managed to keep open a polling station outside Dublin that was supposed to remain closed for these elections…
Laurence Helaili-Chapuis: Yes, it’s historic and a real victory for local democracy! The Cork office will finally remain open as it has for the past twenty years, and that’s great news. It was not normal to consider that some voters have to drive six hours (or more) during the day to vote in Europe!
It was the minister delegate in charge of French nationals abroad, Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, who told me about this news. We are connected on social networks, and he saw that this subject was close to the heart of the French in Ireland. He was also able to read the petition that had been launched for the maintenance of the office [pétition ayant recueilli plus de 500 signatures]. It is a collective work with the French people of Munster and the president of the law commission of the Assembly of French people abroad (AFE) that made this possible. I also thank my group at AFE, because it supported me with great kindness.
Be that as it may, I invite all French people in Ireland to register on the lists because the fewer voters we will have here, the fewer polling stations we will have, but also the fewer human and financial resources.
How will these elections be organized in Ireland?
It’s a bit of a race, because with this announcement there are now four polling stations in Dublin and one in Cork. We are lucky to have access to the town hall of Cork to organize the elections, but, now, there is a lot of work on the level of the lists which the consulate and our honorary consul take care of. With the closure of this office, I had set up a Facebook group to connect those who live in Dublin with those who cannot travel. We therefore had many proxies, which are no longer relevant, since, in addition to the French from Cork, there are those from six other counties who are part of this polling station.
During the 2017 presidential election, less than 50% of French people registered on the lists in Ireland went to the polls. This was one of the reasons given for the closure of the Cork office. How to explain this?
To begin with, in Dublin there were only two polling stations, so this created a lot of waiting and little fluidity, and some voters were discouraged. Then there is a lack of information which is due to the fact that we are abroad. There are still people who tell me that they did not go to vote because they did not receive an electoral card, whereas we do not have one abroad! We do not benefit either from the communication around the elections as in France. We are not sure to receive all the professions of faith, and there is no one to repeat the dates of the poll. Finally, there is perhaps the vote-sanction, that is to say that some say to themselves: “There is not enough interest in us, it is very difficult to get an appointment for passports, so for the elections, they will do without our vote.”
You want to implement electronic voting, why?
This has already been implemented for the legislative and consular elections, which has allowed a high turnout. I think it’s something that would be really expected for the presidential election, especially for people living far from polling stations. Because in Ireland we always have the problem of those who live in the west. Some voters are not part of the six counties to depend on Cork, this means that they have to travel to Dublin, which represents very long journeys and a certain cost. But I am aware that there are many obstacles to the establishment of such a system, such as the guarantee of the integrity of the ballot.
What interests the French in Ireland in the programs of the candidates?
There are two things that link French people living abroad to their citizenship. The first is when they have to redo their identity papers, and all over the world it’s a real problem to get an appointment. Then there is this question of polling stations to exercise their right to vote. There are also other more “traditional” subjects, such as education, taxation, retirement.
I also regret the fact that Defense and Citizenship Day is no longer guaranteed in Ireland. Another topic to raise is domestic violence. A woman victim of this type of violence settled abroad does not know at all how to get out of it. Even if she launches criminal proceedings, how does that work out in an Irish court? Unfortunately, in general, the candidates speak very little about expatriates in their programs.
Do the French in Ireland give importance to the war in Ukraine when choosing their vote?
The French with whom I talk are very concerned about the situation and in particular about the risk of attack or nuclear accident. It must be said that Ireland is not part of NATO, so I think that security issues are becoming a real subject. Many wonder what will happen if the war in Ukraine continues or if other countries are threatened or involved in the conflict. In connection with Ukraine, I am also looking into the question of purchasing power and the repercussions of the crisis on French foreign trade. How are we, local elected representatives, going to be able to help our compatriots faced with a sudden rise in electricity, gas and food prices? After the work done during the Covid-19 crisis, we cannot imagine remaining indifferent to this situation.
In the last presidential election, Marine Le Pen had obtained less than 4% of the votes in the first round, how to explain this low score for the far-right party?
There are several answers to be given, in my opinion. Already, there is the issue of immigration. In Ireland, migratory flows will not affect us in the same way. In recent years, there have been no terrorist attacks in Ireland (as in Paris, London or Barcelona), and the social climate is more peaceful than in France. Moreover, here, the French are expatriates, immigrants, so why vote for the extreme right? In Irish politics, there is no far-right or Eurosceptic party. It’s something you don’t see here. The French are perhaps influenced by this.