Referendum: all you need to know

Q & A

Q & A

1 What am I being asked to do in the referendum?

You are being asked to vote Yes or No to inserting a new clause into Article 9 of the Constitution. This clause would read:

"1. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Constitution, a person born in the island of Ireland, which includes its islands and seas, who does not have, at the time of the birth of that person, at least one parent who is an Irish citizen or entitled to be an Irish citizen, is not entitled to Irish citizenship or nationality, unless provided for by law.

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"2. This section shall not apply to persons born before the date of the enactment of this section."

2 What will happen if the vote is Yes?

If the vote is Yes, the new clause will be inserted. This will allow the Government to introduce a new citizenship Bill to regulate the citizenship rights of children born in Ireland after the date of the referendum. A draft of that Bill has been published, but it may not be the final one brought before the Dáil. It can also be amended during the debate.

Other regulations governing the citizenship of children born in Ireland could be introduced in later amending legislation.

To sum up: we don't know what citizenship regime will apply to children born to non-nationals if the referendum is passed. The amendment gives the Government the right to decide on it through legislation.

3 What will happen if the vote is No?

If the vote is No, the status quo will apply. That means all children born in Ireland, North or South, irrespective of the nationality of their parents or how long their parents have been in Ireland, will have an automatic right to Irish citizenship.

This does not mean they, and their parents, have the right to live in Ireland, as this right was removed by a Supreme Court judgment in January 2003.

However, it does mean that some of them, if they are able to support themselves fully, could live elsewhere in the EU.

4 Who can be an Irish citizen now?

Since the insertion of a new Article 2 into the Irish Constitution in 1998 as part of the Belfast Agreement, any child born in Ireland, North or South, has a right under the Constitution to Irish citizenship at birth. This applies to a child born to either Irish or British citizens in Northern Ireland, Irish citizens in the Republic, or the children of the citizens of any other country, irrespective of how long either parent has been in the country. All anyone has to do to be an Irish citizen is produce a birth certificate.

This right existed in law from the foundation of the State until 1998, but our citizenship law could have been amended to alter it. Since its insertion into the Constitution in 1998, this is no longer possible.

Irish citizenship is also available to the children and grandchildren of Irish citizens who are not born in Ireland, even if their parents have never lived in, or even visited, Ireland. There is no proposal to change this.

5 What is the Government proposing instead of the current regime?

The Government has published a draft Citizenship Bill, which it says it will introduce if the amendment is passed.

This provides that a child of two non-national parents can only become an Irish citizen if at least one parent has lived for three out of the previous four years in Ireland.

This does not apply to foreign students living in Ireland or to those living here illegally for any reason, including the loss of a work permit, or uncertainty about their status. Their children will not be eligible, irrespective of how long they have lived here. Different regulations will apply to the children of citizens of the EU, who have the right to live and work in Ireland.

Under the new regime, at least one parent of every child seeking to become an Irish citizen will have to prove either that they are Irish citizens, or that they have lived legally in Ireland for at least three out of the past four years.

6 What are the arguments for change?

The Government says the existing situation allows for "citizenship tourism", where pregnant women from other countries, especially those generating large numbers of migrants into the EU, could come to Ireland to have their babies and acquire Irish citizenship for them. It said that the number coming here, and the fact that some were arriving in Ireland and presenting to maternity hospitals late in pregnancy, was leading to serious problems for Dublin maternity hospitals.

Other EU member-states do not allow for automatic citizenship at birth. The Government is concerned that we will become a back door into the EU for those who otherwise would not have the right to reside there if we continue to grant the right of citizenship at birth.

7 What are the arguments against change?

These vary. Some people do not rule out some constitutional change in the area, but are opposed to the nature and timing of this proposal. They stress the fundamental importance of citizenship in the Constitution and argue that any change needs serious consultation and debate.

They point to the fact that the new Article 2 arose out of the Belfast Agreement, approved overwhelmingly in a referendum, and express serious concerns about changing it.

They also point to the lack of consultation with the Northern Ireland parties who negotiated the agreement, with the Oireachtas All-Party Committee on the Constitution, the Human Rights Commission and other bodies, and the absence of a Green Paper, which normally precedes a constitutional referendum. They also object to the lack of concrete data about the extent of the alleged abuses.

Others oppose the substance of the proposal. They say it will create two categories of children born in Ireland, those with citizenship and those without, and that this will provide the basis for discrimination between them. They also point to the provision in the legislation restricting citizenship rights to the children of those legally resident in Ireland for three years, stating that this would mean no citizenship for the children of migrant workers who had lost their residency right through no fault of their own, and to various other anomalies, all of which could lead to much litigation around the right to citizenship.

They argue that we do not know what citizenship regime will follow, as it can be changed by the Oireachtas at any time.

8 Who is for and who is against the proposed amendment?

The Government parties - Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats - support it, as does Fine Gael, although Fine Gael is concerned about the timing of the vote.

The Labour Party, the Green Party, Sinn Féin and some Independent TDs oppose it, as does the Human Rights Commission, along with various non-governmental organisations, including the Irish Council for Civil Liberties.