The Irish government did not grant voting rights to asylum-seekers and refugees to replace the Irish population

Context

Posts claiming that Ireland's government is granting voting rights to asylum-seekers and refugees to "push their agenda" (archived here and here) are circulating on social media. They include the term "fakeugees" to describe allegedly fake refugees being brought to the polling station to vote for specific candidates.

However, the statement is not rooted in truth, and the publications are missing several important facts: refugees and asylum seekers have been able to cast ballots in local elections in Ireland for the last 20 years. This is not a recent phenomenon; this right was granted on April 30, 2004. Refugees and asylum seekers can only vote in local elections and must have appropriate identification documents, including being registered on the electors' register.

On June 7, 2024, the European Parliament election and the Irish local elections were held in Ireland. The day after, social media users started sharing the sentiment about refugees and asylum seekers being used by the government "to push their agenda."

The publications included statements that support the "great replacement" conspiracy theory and claims that refugees were taken to the polling stations by special buses and that turnout was 90 percent among asylum seekers, which have not been reported by any reputable sources.

In fact

In Ireland, the right to vote in local elections was extended to all people, including refugees and asylum seekers, in April 2004.

According to the constitutional framework, British and Irish nationals residing in Ireland are the only nationalities eligible to vote in referendums, European, presidential, or general elections. 

Local elections occur in Ireland every five years to choose representatives for city and county councils to make decisions about housing, roads, planning, garbage collection, parks, and other issues. They are open to voting by refugees and asylum seekers. 

This year, the European Parliament election and Irish local elections took place on the same day, which might have caused confusion regarding the type of elections the asylum seekers voted on. 

Statistics on the number of asylum seekers registered to vote or those who participated in the local elections are not publicly available. Without this data, the claim about the 90 percent turnout of asylum seekers to vote has no basis. 

Logically Facts contacted the Central Electoral Commission and Immigrant Council of Ireland, and will update this fact-check with statistical data should we receive a response.

Logically Facts has previously reported on the "great replacement" in Ireland. It is a known xenophobic and far-right conspiracy theory, and its advocates assert that predominantly white Western nations are being overwhelmed by immigrants from Africa and Arab regions. These migrants, according to the theory, overtake the native populations, "push the agenda" of so-called "elites" on elections, and replace local cultures with those of their own. 

There is no evidence that Ireland is planning to replace the Irish with migrants from other countries or that these people were intentionally brought to the polls. There were no such statements from reputable media or election watchdog groups.

The verdict

The Irish government does not use the elections to replace the Irish population with migrants; no evidence supports such claims. Therefore, we have marked this claim as false.