Roisin Morelli loses vote challenge over abortion referendum

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Roisin Morelli lost her High Court application over voting rights in the Eighth Amendment referendum on 20 April 2018. She argued that Irish citizens living in Northern Ireland should be entitled to vote because of their citizenship, the Constitution, the Belfast Agreement and the European Convention on Human Rights.

Mr Justice Charles Meenan rejected the application, finding that her case fell well short of being arguable. He said extending the franchise would require an amendment to Article 47.3 of the Constitution and that the Belfast Agreement contained no provisions on voting entitlements.

The judge also held that the relevant human-rights arguments could not establish a case. He made no order as to costs, leaving both sides to pay their own costs.