Northern Ireland Forum, 27th March 1998

BRITISH CITIZENSHIP - IRISH REPUBLIC

Mr Trimble: I beg to move the following motion:

This Forum calls on the Home Secretary to take such steps as are necessary to facilitatethose of British descent living in the Irish Republic who wish to obtain British citizenship.

This is an important matter which draws attention to a unique facet of the relationship, within the British Isles, between the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. All of Ireland was part of the United Kingdom until 1922 and consequently all its residents were United Kingdom subjects. The situation was complicated by the secession of parts of Ireland to form the Irish Free State, which technically remained part of hte British Empire until 1949. Up to that time all those domiciled in the Irish Free State were technically entitled to British citizenship.

Since Eire became the Irish Republic we have had a rather complex situation, and there are some anomalies which ought to be looked at. The Ireland Act 1949 declared that the Irish Republic was not a foreign country. Consequently citizens of the Irish Republic are not aliens and therefore have free movement across the borders into the United Kingdom. Indeed, they have a right to reside in the United Kingdom. In effect they can acquire British citizenship simply by moving to the kingdom.

Since 1949, and particularly since the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act of 1956, the Irish Republic has been in the habit of granting Irish passports to residents of Northern Ireland who apply for them. The 1956 Act is, however, a bit opaque. Whether everybody in Northern Ireland has the right to apply for an Irish passport is open to interpretation. Indeed, it could be argued that an applicant should have to show that he is a descendant, within three generations, of someone born before 1922. If that interpretation is accurate the right of persons living in Northern Ireland to obtain an Irish passport will gradually disappear. The fact that this does not correspond with the practice need to be looked at.

One could even argue that aspects of the 1956 Act, in conferring on people living in Northern Ireland the right to hold an Irish passport, conflict with part of the McGimpsey judgement - the judgement that followed the famous court action over articles 2 and 3 of the Irish Constitution - and in particular with the Irish Supreme Court's interpretation on that occasion of article 3, which, it is said, limits the effect of Irish legislation to the Twenty-six Counties. It is a little-known aspect of the McGimpsey case, which the Irish government have been ignoring, that, while the Irish Supreme Court affirmed the territorial claim - and, of course, we object to that - it also made new law by limiting the effect of Irish legislation to the Twenty-six Counties. But this is only one anomaly.

The motion focuses on the anomaly that affects those currently domiciled in the Irish Republic whose ancestors lived there at a time when everybody in what is now hte Irish Republic was a British subject. The British Nationality Act 1948 created hte concept of citizen of the United Kingdom and its colonies, as distinct from the concept of British subject. Under section 2 of the 1948 Act citizens of Eire who were also British subjects could, by giving notice in writing to the Home Secretary, claim to remain British subjects on any or all of the following grounds: Crown service, possession of a British passport, association, by descent, residence or otherwise, with the United Kingodm and its colonies. This was done through the British embassy in the case of people domiciled in the Republic. British citizenship law was changed again in 1981 and 1983. The British Nationality Act 1948 was repealed in 1981, but the joint status of Irish citizen and British subject was allowed to continue. Those who did not give notice to the Home Secretary under the 1948 Act may do so under the 1981 Act, provided that they meet the same requirements. Obviously this right is limited and will eventually die out. A very limited number of people do claim British passports under this provision.

These anomalies - people in Northern Ireland claiming Irish passports and Irish citizenship, and people in the Republic of Ireland claiming British passports and British citizenship - should be remedied. There should be uniform practice so that what happens in one jurisdiction is mirrored in the other jurisdiction. To consider what this uniform practice should be, let us look at the unique situation in the British Isles.

Despite separation over the course of this century, the two jurisdictions still have significant common interests. for instance, the British Isles is a common travel area - a fact which is not generally appreciated - and should therefore have common immigration laws and procedures. Of course, the fact that the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland constitute a common travel area means that passpots are not required for movement between them and there ought to be a common entitlement to passports. Citizens of the Irish Republic can acquire a British passport by moving to Britain and, in effect, becoming British citizens. The present practice of the Irish Government is to grant an Irish passport to anybody in Northern Ireland who applies for it, Although, as I have said, the legal basis for that ought to be clarified. If it is declared to be sound, there ought to be an equivalent right for persons in the Republic of Ireland who wish to acquire a British passport. I do not see how the Irish Government could reasonably object to this, given their practice for people domiciled in one part of the United Kingdom.

A significant number of people in the Irish Republic regard themselves as British. They have a British heritage and background, yet they do not qualify for a British passport under the provisions of the British Nationality Act 1948 as amended by the 1981 Act. They ought to be able to apply for a British passport and British citizenship.

I welcome the creation, in the Republic of Ireland, of the Reform Movement which draws together a number of people who wish to see a coherent approach. They are calling for reform in the Republic so that people there who enjoy a British heritage can celebrate it in the same way as those who are Irish celebrate their heritage. The concept of parity of esteem, insofar as it has any meaning, ought to apply in the Republic, and people there who regard themselves a British and wish to take advantage of their British heritage should have the right to claim British citizenship. And with that should come the right to a British passpot. Simple justice and fairness demands such a move, and, of course, it would do a great deal to ease the irritation that is sometimes felt by people in Northern Ireland who see their fellow citizens brandishing what some regard as a foreign passpot.

Ms Sagar: The Women's Coalition has no problem with the assertion that people of British descent in the Irish Republic should have British citizenship rights. Indeed, we have proposed measures aimed at allowing people throughout the island of Ireland to have dual ciizenship. However, we are slightly puzzled about why the Ulster Unionist Party felt it necessary to move this motion. So far as we are aware, the rules for claiming Birtish citizenship are applied in the Republic in the same way as in any other country: anyone with a grandparent born in the United Kingdom is entitled to full British citizenship.

The Chairman: I am sure you will get ananswer before the day is out.

Mr Brewster: I hope to be able to answer the Member's question, but if not, other Members will be happy to enlighten the Women's Coalition - and not for the first time.

Recently the British and Irish Governments proclaimed once again their commitment to goodneighbourliness and mutual co-operation. Time prevents me from dwelling on the numerous ways in which the Irish Republic has shown itself to be anything but a good neighbour, but this House should again record its rejection of the Dublin Government's illegal territorial claim in articles 2 and 3 and its objection to their interference in the internal affairs of Northern Ireland through the Maryfield secretariat.

The two countries claim to be close allies, and it is perverse that the one small area where genuine co-operation would assist has been studiously ignored by our Government, for they could solve this problem. I refer to the invidious position of people in the Irish Republic - and there are many - who have been refused British citizenship. The Leader of my party has detailed the position of those born before 1922, and I understand that before 1 January 1949 anybody with one British parent could obtain a British passport. But, apart from the few loopholes that Mr Trimble quite properly mentioned, the British Nationality Act 1981 virtually closed this option.

It is instructive to note how our Government treat citizens of the Irish Republic in other regards. An astonishing one quarter of the Republic's population is resident in the United Kingdom. The economic strategy of successive Dublin finance Ministers has been predicated on the knowledge that the jobless can be dumped on the United Kingdom. Irish students have targeted our universities - Queen's in particular - because they know that taxpayers here will pay for their education and subsequently employ them.

It would be very easy to indulge in xenophobia, but I hope that we will not do so today. I prefer to look at the behaviour of those Irish people as voting with their feet in favour of the Union. How interesting it is that Nationalists can live happily in Liverpool or Luton without feeling that their identity is in any way threatened, but Nationalists cannot tolerate living in Larne or Londonderry. These people's children and grandchildren will be entitled to British passports, yet the descendants of some of the most loyal citizens of the United Kingdom - people who before 1921 fought for this country in wars and administered it at the highest level - are in effect being told that they will not be entitled to British pasports. What a begrudging response compared to the Irish Government's issuing of a passport to anyone here, or to anyone who can find £1 million, from whatever dodgy source, to pay Fianna Fail.

The situation has worsened since 1981, when the Nationality Act made it virtually impossible for anyone born after that date of Irish parents in the Irish Republic to obtain a cherished British passport. Some people will still apply, and I hope that they will be successful, but they are not encouraged - not least because some civil servants in the Foeign and Commonwealth OFfice seem more concerned with the interests of the Irish Republic than with the interests of this state. It has been well said: the Department of Agriculture looks after the interests of farmers, the Department of Trade and Industry looks after the interests of traders and industrialists; and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office looks after the interests of foreigners - it certainly does not look after the interests of these United Kingdom descendants or, indeed, the people of Northern Ireland.

A replacement for the 1981 Nationality Act is long overdue. Such would benefit not only the British/Irish community in the Irish Republic but also the citizens of our sadly few remaining colonies. Members will be aware of the recent grubby treatment that the Government meted out ot British passport holders in Hong Kong and the West Indies. On several occasions in recent times the Government have been little short of overtly reacist in their treatment of citizens.

Mr Ian Paisley Jnr: Should the Government decide to allow these citizens to hold British passports, could they then register as British electors? Has Mr Brewster's party considered the effect that that might have for the Union?

Mr Brewster: Indeed we have. Of course, as Mr Paisley well knows, we have consistently opposed any extension of the so-called "I" voter category, which continues to be used by Nationalists to bring in voters - literally sometimes. This week's electoral reform investigation did not touch on that matter, though perhaps it should have.

In recent months the Unionist community in the Irish Republic has finally been raising its head cautiously above the parapet. Later today Mr David Christopher, one of the co-ordinators of the Reform Movement, will be in the Forum. I hope that Members will take the opportunity to talk with im about the campaign to restore some form of link with the United Kingdom. The organization's recent statement of principle says:

"The Irish separatist tradition has too often used outdated resentments to blind the Irish people to the fact that our future and that of the United Kingdom are closely linked. No shame attaches to the people of a small nation who recognise that their future is inextricably bound up with that of a larger neighbour, and who voluntarily organize their affairs accordignly. In this context we are proud to place the Unionist tradition once more at the service of the Irish people. Our Unionism is not a Unionism of subservience and deference; rather it is a Unionism grounded in the relaities of the Irish situation and, as such, can look forward with confidence to the challenge of the coming century."

Would it not be a small glimmer i the Government were to grant British passports to those who wish again to be British and whose families have proved themselves British throughout the generations? Or will the Government continue to ignore the embarrassing and inconvenient fact that Her Majesty's most loyal subjects have always been found on this island and that it will continue to be so for generations to come?

Mr Hunter: It is a matter of considerable regret that since the partition of Ireland, when what is now the Republic left this kingdom, the Ulster/British community in the South has been consistently ignored by the British Government. In a spirit of good-neighbourliness and in the context of the European Union, these people should be permitted to apply for the citizenship that is rightly theirs.

United Kingdom passports are issued under the royal prerogative, at the discretion of the Home Secretary, and remain Crown property. Refusal, however, is judicially reviewable and passports may become a common-law right where being a condition precedent for travel overseas. United Kingdom law grants to right to travel to, for example, the United States of America or India. A passport evidences British citizenship and the right to claim, but not necessarily to receive, Crown protection. However, for the purposes of immigration law, a United Kingdom passport is necessary to prove British citizenship or citizenship of a United Kingdom colony with the right of abode.

Naturally enough, British citizens in Northern Ireland may apply for a United Kingdom passport, as, in very limited circumstances, can British subjects in the Irish Republic. Between 1949 and 1982 one of the grounds on which the latter could establish their status was the holding of a British passport, but this was abolished in 1981. Now British subjects in the Republic, who under Eire law are also Irish citizens, must have been born before 1 January 1949 in order to qualify. That is what Mr Trimble was talking about in his allusion to section (2)(1)(2) of the British Nationality Act 1948 and subsections (3) and (4) of section 31 of the British Nationality Act 1981.

The status of British subjects in the Republic must now be established by association, mainly by way of descent, with or by residence in the United Kingdom or any dependent territory. It may still be claimed by notice in writing to the Home Secretary, and if the status of British subject is granted, it is deemed to have existed continuously from 1st January 1949. So it is not a simple matter of applying for a passport; you need a written declaration from the Home Secretary that you are a British subject.

Those people living in Eire who are regarded as Irish citizens according to the laws of the state have to go through two stages to obtain a British passport. The status of British subject must be established, in the case of those born before 1 January, 1949, by notice in writing. On the basis of this notice, an application for a passport may be made through our embassy in Dublin or to the United Kingdom Passport Agency. The necessary application forms are not available generally in the Irish Republic, unlike Irish passport application forms, which for some obscure reason are available here. Any further extension of British passport rights for people in the Republic who require changes in the United Kingdom's nationality law, and nowadays that would probably require the imprimatur of Maryfield.

Ironically, Eire is one of the few states in the world that accept the principle of dual nationality, yet it is so difficult for people of British descent living there to get a passport of the state to which they rightly regard themselves as belonging. The United Kingdom Government have failed to recognise those people's rights, and the Irish Government have failed to recognize that a minority within their state do not accept their idea of citizenship, race and nationality and that those people must be dealt with. This might be one way of reducing the creeping genocide that is being perpetrated against the Ulster/British community in Eire.

It is a matter of regret that the British embassy in Eire does absolutely nothing to look after the interests of the people of Ulster/British descent there. How often do we hear of the British Ambassador to Eire visiting Cavan, Monaghan or Donegal to show some interest in the British people living in those counties?