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Gardai and the right to vote

  • 15-12-2008 03:08PM
    #1
    Mr. Presentable
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9,495 ✭✭✭


    I wonder if any member can advise. I have noted on two other fora here the celebration of the 1918 right to vote awarded women, but I know the Gardai had to wait a lot longer.

    I have tried the Press Office, GRA, AGSI, and the Historical Soc to no avail. I read up through the History of an Garda Siochana at my local library - despite being first published in 1997 it goes to 1952 (noting at the end that Gardai still had no vote) and covers from 1952 onwards in one page:eek:

    When did members of the force get the vote? I am of the belief it was around 1972.


Comments

  • #2
    deadwood
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,938 ✭✭✭deadwood


    I didn't know this. I'll be very interested to see the results. Before I read through your post, I was thinking Historical Society.

    IPA (International Police Assoc.) Ireland might help.

    Women can vote now?:eek:


  • #3
    opti76
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 658 ✭✭✭opti76


    deadwood wrote: »
    I didn't know this. I'll be very interested to see the results. Before I read through your post, I was thinking Historical Society.

    IPA (International Police Assoc.) Ireland might help.

    Women can vote now?:eek:
    ya it was women or monkeys ...


  • #4
    johnnyskeleton
    Moderators, Entertainment Moderators, Politics Moderators Posts: 14,568 Mod ✭✭✭✭johnnyskeleton


    nipplenuts wrote: »
    I wonder if any member can advise. I have noted on two other fora here the celebration of the 1918 right to vote awarded women, but I know the Gardai had to wait a lot longer.

    For a start, weren't they only created in 1924?

    I thought that the prohibition was on them joining a political party rather than voting.

    In any event, the constitution provides for the right to vote in general and presidential elections subject to law, so if they were prohibited from voting it would have been stated somewhere in a Garda Siochana Act, and most likely repealed by another. You can trawl through them here. The other alternative is that while they had the right to vote, it was a term of their oath that they would not. The oath is a bit vague in this regard, but I don't think it should prohibit voting.


  • #5
    Mr. Presentable
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9,495 ✭✭✭Mr. Presentable


    The GRA came through for me today they had fought for it after all. The archivist called me today and told me Gardai got the right to vote courtesy of the 1960 Electoral Act. Prior to that the only groups not allowed to vote were the Gardai, Prisoners and the certified insane.


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