Gerry Adams declaration he will seek to run as a candidate for Dáil Éireann resulted in a pointless debate on how he will leave his postion as MP for West Belfast.
Another technical point is that while he is legally entitled to run as a TD, he may not be entitled to vote in any future election.
As the Dundalk Democrat notes and we all know, Adams doesn’t live in Louth or the south:
GERRY Adams will reside in County Louth if elected to Dail Eireann in this constituency. The Sinn Fein leader made the admission on a visit to The Dundalk Democrat on Monday.
Many people had questioned his decision to run in County Louth despite not being from the area but Mr Adams said he will happily relocate here in order to do the job to the best of his ability.
“My family home is in West Belfast and it will remain there”
However, as the Department of the Environment, Heritage & Local Government point out in their publication on Registration Law, Adams seems to have excluded himself as a voter:
In order to be able to vote at an election or referendum, a person’s name must be entered on the register of electors for the locality in which the elector ordinarily resides.
Residence: a person must be ordinarily resident at the address in question on 1st September preceding the coming into force of the register.
A visitor or person staying temporarily at the address should not be registered
Note: Similar situations arise elsewhere where a candidate can run and vote in another constituency but in this case Adams will not have a vote anywhere.
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