Irish Citizenship for people of just ancestral background??

[Armchair Activist]

Should Irish citizenship be granted to those who can prove Irish Ancestry even if its 5th or 6th generation?

[JCSkinner]

No, but citizenship ought to be granted to Irish-Argentinians, most of whom are third generation and thus excluded.
The irony here is that they are intensely proud of their Irish heritage, play hurling in Buenos Aires and speak Irish more than many people here do, yet are denied their inheritance due to the intransigence of the Dept of Foreign Affairs.
The further irony is that nearly all of them are entitled to come here to work anyway by way of Spanish or Italian citizenry which is not nearly so strict in terms of generationality.
But they want to be considered Irish, and believe that they are being discriminated against because they are Hispanophone rather than Anglophone.
In an era when our streets are clogged with Roma gypsies begging, and bogus asylum seekers from Africa, surely it is in our interest to permit citizenship to a cohort of people who feel intensely Irish, share our culture and music and sport and language, and who are in general hard-working and educated, not to mention excellent soccer players!

[Aindriu]

Should Irish citizenship be granted to those who can prove Irish Ancestry even if its 5th or 6th generation?

Certainly yes for 4th generation, if it can be proved. The problem is that a large amount of civil records went up in smoke during the siege of the Four Courts in the Civil War. That would leave people reliant on church records alone and many of them are missing as well.

I would think there is virtually no chance of proving back to 5th gen onwards because of the above.

[Armchair Activist]

My personal opinion is that they would have far more to offer in terms of promoting Irish culture & heritage than any of the Romanian’s, Pole’s, Latvian’s, Bulgarian’s etc put together!

So why have the Irish government ignored the distant Irish all around the world who had fled the land in a time of desperation to better their lives abroad. It was these very people who helped Ireland overcome an economic recession, by providing financial support and investment. I believe we owe it to these people that we should welcome them back if they so wish to do so, whether they be from America, the UK, Argentina, Australia etc.

Most of them are probably “more Irish then the Irish themselves”!

[seanad voter]

Ya mean there might be an Irish Maradona out there ? Sign the Argies up quick !

[Supersid]

Broadening the availability of Irish citzenshipship only serves to make it less meaningful and/or less valuable. IMHO it should be restricted to people born in the Republic of Ireland, or to people who can prove residence for at least ten years. There may be a case for awarding honourary citizenship to people who have done service to the state, and who would not otherwise be entitled to it.

[JCSkinner]

The DFA argument against this is, apparently, that millions of Brits, Aussies and Yanks would become eligible for Irish citizenship if the Argentinian case was considered.
Which is nonsense really, as there are something like 20 million Irish passports out there anyway for an island of 6 million people, indicating that those people are already availing of Irish passports.
This issue would affect at most 50,000 people, as they are the hardcore insistent on being considered Irish, rather than simply grabbing a Spanish passport and coming in here as an EU citizen.
I personally find the position of the DFA to be ridiculous.

[JCSkinner]

Broadening the availability of Irish citzenshipship only serves to make it less meaningful and/or less valuable. IMHO it should be restricted to people born in the Republic of Ireland, or to people who can prove residence for at least ten years. There may be a case for awarding honourary citizenship to people who have done service to the state, and who would not otherwise be entitled to it.

You can go swing. I am Irish and I am entitled to my citizenship no matter how many neo-partitionists want to claim otherwise.
GFA - go read it, sunshine.
Anyhow, the right of citizenship by birth was voted down by a referendum of the people. So we know that no one agrees with you.

[Aindriu]

Broadening the availability of Irish citzenshipship only serves to make it less meaningful and/or less valuable. IMHO it should be restricted to people born in the Republic of Ireland, or to people who can prove residence for at least ten years. There may be a case for awarding honourary citizenship to people who have done service to the state, and who would not otherwise be entitled to it.

So you agree with the sprog of a transitory, Eastern European immigrant being granted Irish citizenship then?

[Supersid]

Broadening the availability of Irish citzenshipship only serves to make it less meaningful and/or less valuable. IMHO it should be restricted to people born in the Republic of Ireland, or to people who can prove residence for at least ten years. There may be a case for awarding honourary citizenship to people who have done service to the state, and who would not otherwise be entitled to it.

So you agree with the sprog of a transitory, Eastern European immigrant being granted Irish citizenship then?

Ten years residence, paying taxes and contributing to our state is not transitory and it deserves recognition.

These people are far more entitled to citzenship than people who were born in N.I., and who may have never set foot in the state, let alone made a contribution to it.