The Taoiseach today called for a Yes vote in the forthcoming citizenship referendum and claimed those opposed to the proposed change had failed to put forward a convincing argument as to why the current situation should be left unchanged.
Mr Ahern accused opponents of the referendum of "discussing unrelated issues and address the merits of the actual question that the people are being asked to decide on."
He said he believed that the case for a Yes vote was clear and asked "should anyone born here have citizenship conferred on them automatically, regardless of how long their parents have been in Ireland? Or should we value Irish citizenship more highly by awarding it automatically at birth only to those whose parents have a real link with this country?"
He said he was confident that support for a Yes vote "can only get stronger as the people consider the proposal in more depth between here and June 11th."