Irish passport newly prized
The Emerald Isle will always have a reliable domestic market for passports. But the Brexit vote and the election of Donald Trump have contributed to a rise in applications.
DUBLIN — Everyone wants to be Irish these days. And not just on March 17th.
You don’t have to take my word for it. You can ring up the Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin.
Officials there will tell you that the number of Irish passports issued in 2016 increased by almost 10 percent. Part of that was due to things like the European Soccer Championships — in France. An upswing in the economy allowed more Irish vacationers to go abroad, and last year saw a big wave of renewals from a historical spike in applications in 2006.
Given its location on the margins of Europe, the Emerald Isle will always have a reliable domestic market for passports. But the uncertain fallout from last June’s Brexit vote also provoked a significant surge in applications from the United Kingdom. In fact, in January of this year Irish passport requests from Great Britain were up by a staggering 74 percent from the same month last year.
As a result, the Irish Passport Office is recruiting hundreds of temporary staff to deal with the demand.
There’s good reason UK residents in particular might want an Irish passport. Once Brexit is finalized, British citizens will likely lose a multitude of benefits. For instance, their right to work and live within the European Union, with a minimum of administrative fuss, will vanish, along with access to an EU-wide student exchange program and free healthcare when traveling on the Continent.
According to British Labour MP Gisela Stuart, who campaigned in favor of Brexit, there are “more people living on the mainland United Kingdom who have the right to Irish citizenship than there are currently Irish citizens in Ireland,” which presents a “challenge” for both the UK and Ireland.
Anyone who had a parent or grandparent born in Ireland is entitled to an Irish passport.
Though German-born, Ms. Stuart herself is unable to avail of any dual EU citizenship so long as she keeps her House of Commons seat. Parliamentary rules forbid any member from retaining two nationalities.
As for interest elsewhere in the world, the findings here aren’t all that surprising. The biggest demand for an Irish calling card outside of Dublin came at the consulate in New York, where 7,205 passports were processed in 2016. This is perhaps partly explained by the election of Donald Trump — although Irish consulates had already seen months of increased citizenship applications from Americans before the November presidential vote, according to Politico.eu.
As for me: Back in 2005, I assembled all the necessary paperwork, got a suitable mugshot taken, then applied for and was given an Irish passport to go alongside my equally treasured U.S. one. I have my grandmother, Corkborn Madge Reardon, to thank for granting me the privilege of dual citizenship.
Every time I’m in the pub, I make sure to raise a pint in her honor.