I have always loved politics. Growing up in Ireland, all things political were very much embedded in the fabric of the nation. Both nationally and locally, I felt very much involved in the political landscape (although I railed against its parochialism at the time).

When I later moved to London, where I lived for more than 20 years, my interest in the machinations of the English political scene took root and grew exponentially.

In 2018, I moved to the New York. Again, I became interested in and fascinated by the country’s political world. How could I not? How we make, and break, worlds and communities, how we strive to create a more just and equal society, how we struggle to hang on to the physical world that we all inhabit—all such fundamental and essential things to spend significant amounts of time considering, discussing, and acting on.

In the past, I have mostly acted by exercising my right to vote.

A right I no longer have.

In the USA, as a non-citizen, I obviously cannot vote. In the UK, where I have a home, I am also not a citizen and therefore cannot vote there, either. In Ireland, I remain a citizen but I do not have a place of residence and thus, no vote.

So, I have watched both recent UK and Irish elections as a bystander, and will soon do the same in the US. This does not at all dim my interest in politics, but it does make me feel just a little invisible and powerless.

To not have a say in the (democratic) world that I inhabit is actually kind of tragic.

CQ