A MOTION has been passed at Belfast City Council calling for people in the North to vote in Irish Presidential elections.

In November 2013, the Fifth Report of the Convention on the Constitution recommended giving citizens residing outside the 26 counties the right to vote in presidential elections.

It also noted that Irish citizens living in the north can stand for, and be elected as President of Ireland but cannot vote in presidential elections.

At Monday evening's monthly Council meeting, a motion by Sinn Féin councillor Róis-Máire Donnelly called on Belfast City Council to write to the Irish Government and ask that they implement the recommendation of the Convention on the constitution with regards to voting rights in presidential elections, thereby extending the right to vote in elections for President of Ireland to all Irish citizens on the island of Ireland.

Alliance councillor Fiona McAteer said the proposal was not about forcing people to vote, but simply giving them a choice.

Green Party councillor Brian Smyth said the current rules treat Irish citizens in the North as "second-class" because they are left "voiceless".

TUV councillor Ron McDowell described the motion as an "inconsequential" issue in a "foreign country". "It is not my country and it is not my business," he added.

DUP Alderman Dean McCullough described the motion as a "trojan horse". He said the motion was about "extending the reach and influence of a foreign presidency into part of the United Kingdom".

SDLP councillor Gary McKeown joked that "Sinn Féin seem to live rent free in the heads" of Unionist members opposite.

DUP Alderman Andrew McCormick said it was surprising to hear "jokes and snarly comments" from the SDLP, given that "Sinn Féin have virtually wiped the SDLP off the electoral map". Sinn Féin group leader Ciarán Beattie added that every time Sinn Féin was mentioned, £1 should be put in a box.

Returning to his comments, SDLP councillor Gary McKeown said he found some comments by Unionist councillors "offensive".

"I was born on this island. I have an Irish passport. I am Irish. I am not a foreigner living in my own country. I respect people who do not see themselves as Irish. The President of Ireland is my head of state and I should have a right to have a say in an election."

Following a vote, the motion was carried with 41 votes for and 17 against, which was met with loud cheers from some councillors.