Surge in Britons living here claiming Irish citizenship

THERE has been a massive surge in the numbers of British people living in Ireland claiming Irish citizenship as Brexit draws closer, new figures reveal.

The figures, obtained by Fine Gael senator Neale Richmond, shows there has been a staggering ten-fold increase in the number of British nationals becoming Irish citizens in the wake of the UK’s decision to leave the European Union.

Mr Richmond, who is Fine Gael’s spokesperson on Europe in the Seanad, said the figures reflect the uncertainty felt by UK citizens living here over Brexit.

‘Already we’ve seen a massive increase in applications for passports by eligible citizens living in Northern Ireland and in Great Britain,’ he said. ‘Now, figures released to me by the Department of Justice have shown that increasingly British nationals living here, who don’t qualify for a passport through lineage, are applying for Irish citizenship.’

In 2014, just 51 UK citizens became naturalised Irish citizens, the following year there was a marginal increase to 54 before nearly doubling to 98 in 2016, the year of the Brexit vote. This marked the start of a significant increase in the numbers of British nationals becoming naturalised Irish citizens in 2017 which jumped 540% to 529.

‘Such a spike is clearly tied to the Brexit referendum and the uncertainty that has prevailed since the vote,’ Mr Richmond said. ‘There are more than 300,000 British nationals living in the State and it is estimated that about a third of these would not qualify for an Irish passport through lineage. Many of these are now looking to become naturalised Irish citizens for a host of reasons. This is a good news story and these new Irish citizens should be commended for their decision and thanked for their positive contribution to our society.’

With the final deal on Brexit still unclear, many UK citizens fear being unable to live and work throughout the EU which has led to the surge in the number of UK citizens looking to obtain an Irish passport. In 2017, there was also a surge in Irish passport applications, with 81,287 applications from people in the UK while a further 81,752 people in Northern Ireland also applied.

The large numbers of applicants from Northern Ireland is unsurprising given that the majority of people voted to remain part of the EU as well as those who are born in Northern Ireland being eligible to claim an Irish passport.

After the referendum was passed in 2016, DUP MP, Ian Paisley Jr, urged his supporters to apply for Irish passports, as everyone in the North is entitled to claim British and Irish citizenship.

Retweeting a message from the Irish passport office, Paisley a Brexit supporter said: ‘My advice is if you are entitled to a second passport then take one. I sign off lots of applications for constituents.

‘My advice is to take as many as you can, especially if you travel to different world trouble zones.’