Lacken woman returns home from Spain to vote Yes

Seamus Enright

A young Cavan woman returning from Spain to vote to repeal the Eighth Amendment says she will keep in mind the millions of Irish living abroad unable to come home to participate in the upcoming referendum.
Lacken-native Charlotte McGauran is a beneficiary of the #AbroadForYes and #BeMyYes online campaigns, utilised by Irish ex-pats to sponsor students to return to Ireland to vote in favour of abolishing Article 40.3.3 from the Constitution.
For the Maynooth University student, now working as an English-language intern in Murcia in Spain, the announcement of the May 25 vote earlier this year came as a “bittersweet” moment.
“I was delighted, but I was also hugely disappointed because I knew, financially as a student, it would not be possible for me to get home to vote. It was upsetting for me because this referendum is about my future, and the millions of other young women growing up in this country.”
Dismayed by her lack of voting options from abroad, Charlotte however came across #AbroadForYes and #BeMyYes and registered her details with the campaign team, who state their aim as “trying to gather Irish citizens abroad in one place to get as many votes on May 25 as possible”.
Less than an hour later Charlotte received notification her flight home had been paid for, and is due to arrive back in Cavan early this coming Thursday morning.
“It was incredible, really amazing! I was so happy. Its an incredible thing to do, and its organised by Irish people living abroad, but who have been living out of the country so long but are really passionate, like me, see votes for 'yes' in the referendum,” she says.
The most recent figures from the Central Statistics Office show 30,800 Irish citizens left the country between April 2016 and April 2017, and Charlotte tells The Anglo-Celt her vote will be cast with the millions like her in mind.

“People don't really know a lot about the referendum taking place, but when they asked why I was taking the day of work to come home, they were definitely shocked that Irish laws are the way there are. Even in a Catholic country like Spain, abortion is legal here, but in terms of Ireland they can't quite believe that terminations aren't available. To them it's like the country is still left back somewhere in the '80s, but I want people to know that's not the case, that Ireland is a progressive country, that change is wanted and I hope to be part of that when I cast my vote this Friday.”