Applications for Irish citizenship from Britain hit a record high in 2024, having increased by 15% on the previous year, with applications from North America also on the rise.
In terms of the benefits of Irish citizenship, an Irish citizen is not only recognized as a national of Ireland, but also a citizen of the European Union with the right to live and work in Ireland, the UK, and the European Union. The Irish passport is considered a very strong passport, where Irish nationals can access a significant number of countries globally without having to obtain an entry visa.
The question of whether a person is an Irish citizen or entitled to Irish citizenship by ancestry or by descent, will depend on the nature of their Irish ancestry.
Where a person's parent or parents were born on the island of Ireland on or before 31 December 2004, they are an Irish citizen. Where a person's parent or parents were born on the island of Ireland on or after 1 January 2025, their entitlement to Irish citizenship will largely depend on their parents' citizenship and/or length of residence on the island of Ireland.
Foreign Birth Registration
Where a person's grandparent or grandparents were born on the island of Ireland, they may be entitled to Irish citizenship by having their birth registered on what is termed, the Foreign Births Register. The Foreign Births Register is an official register of foreign births with Irish citizenship maintained by the Department of Foreign Affairs (the "DFA") in Dublin, where Foreign Birth Registration ("FBR") applications are submitted to the DFA.
Once an applicant's birth is registered on the Foreign Births Register, they are an Irish citizen and are entitled to apply for an Irish passport, which is a straightforward online application.
To submit an FBR application, an applicant will require official or original documentation relating to three generations, to include for themselves, their relevant parent and relevant grandparent i.e., birth, marriage, and death certificates (if applicable) for each generation, together with some additional documentation for the applicant.
An applicant is generally only entitled to apply for FBR where they have an Irish born grandparent. However, if their relevant parent applied for FBR before the applicant was born, an applicant is also eligible to apply for FBR. In this way, citizenship by descent can be maintained indefinitely for each successive generation, subject to a parent successfully applying for FBR before their own child is born.
The current processing time for FBR applications is approximately 9 months from the date of submission and applications are processed in strict date order. It is possible to request an application to be expedited in certain limited cases e.g., where an applicant is an expectant parent, whose child may be born before their application is processed.
During the application process, the DFA examines the supporting documentation to validate an applicant's identity and entitlement to apply for Irish citizenship and queries can be raised.
If a decision is taken not to award entry in the Foreign Births Register to an applicant who has submitted the required documentation, then a letter of refusal will issue detailing the reasons why the refusal is being made and informing the applicant of their right to appeal. If an applicant hasn't submitted the required documentation, an applicant has no right of appeal. Any letter of appeal must be submitted to the DFA within 6 weeks from the date of refusal. If an applicant is not satisfied with the outcome of their appeal, they can make a complaint to the office of the Ombudsman.
Citizenship by Association
Section 16 (1) of the Irish Nationality & Citizenship Act, 1956 (as amended) provides that the Minister for Justice & Equality (the "Minister") can, in their absolute discretion, grant an application for citizenship in certain cases, although the usual conditions for naturalization (or any of them) are not complied with.
These discretionary cases include where "...the applicant is of Irish descent or Irish associations..", where "Irish associations" is defined as "...he or she is related by blood, affinity, or adoption to...a person who is an Irish citizen or entitled to be an Irish citizen, or...he or she is related by blood, affinity or adoption to...a person who is deceased and who, at the time of his or her death, was an Irish citizen or entitled to be an Irish citizen".
The Department of Justice & Equality's (the "Department") position on this type of application has been much stricter in recent years, where (amongst other things), they state "there is no right or entitlement to have any of the statutory conditions waived even where the applicant comes within the circumstances described" and "it is entirely at the Minister's discretion and this discretion is used very rarely and only under the most exceptional and compelling circumstances".
The Minister stated in the Irish parliament, Dáil Éireann, on 11 June 2024, that at that time, there were 1,200 Irish association cases pending determination, with an average processing time of 30 months plus. The Department also announced in 2024 that its officials were developing a set of guidelines which can be consulted when making such applications, although these guidelines are yet to be published but are expected in 2025.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
