Referendum on citizenship

Madam, - "McDowell" means "son of the black foreigner". Let's deport him after the referendum. - Yours, etc.,

Madam, - "McDowell" means "son of the black foreigner". Let's deport him after the referendum. - Yours, etc.,

MICHAEL SHERIDAN, Newcourt Road, Bray, Co Wicklow.

Madam, - I should like to draw the attention of those engaged in the debate on the proposed citizenship referendum to a significant but often overlooked provision of the Good Friday Agreement.

It is included in the (literally) small print of Annex 2 of the new British-Irish Agreement in respect of the guarantee of a choice of British or Irish citizenship or both for the people of Northern Ireland. It reads as follows:

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"The British and Irish Governments declare that it is their joint understanding that the term 'the people of Northern Ireland' in paragraph (vi) of Article 1 of this Agreement means, for the purpose of giving effect to this provision, 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 effect of this is that children born in Northern Ireland whose parents do not qualify under these conditions are not entitled to British citizenship. They are, however, currently entitled to Irish citizenship and as such to all the rights of citizens of the European Union within the United Kingdom. That is the issue now before the European Court of Justice in the Chen case, in which parents under threat of deportation were advised to move to Belfast for the birth of their child.

Its significance in the context of the debate on the proposed amendment of the Irish Constitution is twofold. Firstly, it seems clear that the Irish Government must have been fully aware of the implications of the new wording of Article 2 since the British negotiators insisted on inserting the restriction.

Secondly, it is equally clear that the guarantee of Irish citizenship for those born in any part of Ireland without any such restriction is not part of any international treaty and can be altered by the Irish Government and people at their discretion.

Making the proposed change, as shown in the admirable survey in your edition of April 3rd of the law in all the other members of the European Union, would bring Irish law into line with general European standards. The main international human rights requirements in this field are the obligations under the United Nations Conventions on the Reduction of Statelessness and the Status of Stateless Persons to grant citizenship to those who would otherwise be stateless and more generally to avoid any discrimination on racial grounds.

Whether the underlying purpose of making the proposed change amounts to racism, rather than the pursuit of European solidarity, and whether it is a good idea to combine the proposed referendum with the European and local elections is another matter. But there is nothing in the Good Friday Agreement or in international or human rights law to prohibit the substance of the change. - Yours, etc.,

TOM HADDEN, School of Law, Queen's University, Belfast.

Madam, - The forthcoming referendum provides a splendid opportunity for the people of Ireland to express their support for the current arrangements whereby all babies born in the island of Ireland are entitled to Irish citizenship. The basis for the anti-referendum campaign, therefore, can only the fear the people will in fact reject these arrangements.

The opponents of the referendum are afraid of democracy. - Yours, etc.,

TONY ALLWRIGHT, Killiney, Co Dublin.