AnalysisCitizenship legislation is modelled closely on the Belfast Agreement, writes Carol Coulter
The automatic entitlement to Irish citizenship, introduced into the Constitution by an amended Article Two, will be no more if the proposed Amendment to Article Nine is passed.
The details of entitlement to citizenship are not spelt out in the proposed amendment, other than by reference to the need for at least one parent to be a citizen. These are left to the proposed draft of the new Irish Nationality and Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, also published yesterday.
It provides for amending existing Citizenship Acts in two areas - the entitlement of children born in Ireland to Irish citizenship, and the definition of residence for the purpose of obtaining such citizenship. Illegal residence, residence for an educational purpose, or residence while being in the asylum process are all excluded.
Article Two of the Constitution, introduced as a result of the Belfast Agreement, gave the automatic right to citizenship to all those born on the island of Ireland. Part of this agreement included removing the so-called "territorial claim" in the previous Article Two, and replacing it with an entitlement to Irish citizenship for anyone born in Northern Ireland who wished to have it.
There were two elements in the Belfast Agreement: a multi-party agreement, which was the outcome of negotiations between all the Northern parties and the two governments; and the British-Irish agreement, between the two governments. The undertaking to amend Article Two was part of the multi-party agreement. At the time there were warnings that the terms of Article Two could lead to the problems now exercising the Government, but these were brushed aside.
The Minister for Justice told journalists yesterday that the British government had been consulted about the changes, but not the parties to the multi-party agreement.
The British-Irish agreement recognised "the birthright of all the people of Northern Ireland to identify themselves and be accepted as Irish or British, or both". However, it did acknowledge that not all those born in Northern Ireland were part of "the people of Northern Ireland". In Annex 2 to that agreement it stated that the "people of Northern Ireland" were "all persons born in Northern Ireland and having, at the time of their birth, at least one parent who is a British Citizen, an Irish citizen, or is otherwise entitled to reside in Northern Ireland without any restriction on their period of residence."
The proposed new Citizenship Bill follows these definitions quite closely.
Assuming the constitutional referendum is passed, the Bill, if also passed, will put into law the automatic right to Irish citizenship of those born in Northern Ireland to Irish or British citizens, or to those legally resident without restriction in Northern Ireland.
If a child born in Ireland does not have a parent who is either an Irish or British citizen, or entitled to legally reside in Northern Ireland, the child can only become a citizen if at least one parent has lived anywhere in Ireland for three out of the four years preceding the birth.
There is provision for a child born anywhere in Ireland to be a citizen, even if the Irish or British citizen parent is deceased.
The section of the Act dealing with the three years' residence requirement is more restrictive than first appears. Residence in Ireland for the purpose of education does not count. Nor does residence in Ireland while an asylum application is being processed.
Those living in Ireland illegally will also be prevented from using that residence as a basis for claiming citizenship for a child. These restrictions are also in place for those seeking naturalisation. Similar restrictions are proposed in relation to residence in Northern Ireland for the purpose of claiming citizenship.
There are different regulations governing citizens of the European Community who wish to claim Irish citizenship for their children. Because they have the right to reside in Ireland without obtaining permission from the Minister for Justice, they are only required to make a statutory declaration stating that they have been resident in the island of Ireland for the specified time.