Ireland prepares to restrict citizenship [View All]

The Government says it is necessary, whereas many intellectuals denounce it as illiberal and racist. But the Republic of Ireland is on the brink of a placing a historic restriction on Irish citizenship. Voters in yesterday's European elections in the Republic were also voting on a referendum to the Irish constitution that would remove the traditional entitlement to Irish citizenship of anyone born in the country. Although there were allegations of racism before the vote, opinion polls show that a majority of voters intend to support the move.

If the constitutional amendment is passed, citizenship will only be granted to babies with at least one parent who has lived in Ireland for at least three of the past four years. The move is opposed by two of the smaller parties, Labour and Sinn Fein, but the parties in the governing coalition support the move and so does the other large party, Fine Gael.

Many voters are confused as to what has motivated the move but a substantial majority appears to have accepted the argument that the present system is open to abuse because Ireland is the only European state with an automatic right to citizenship at birth. There have been reports of heavily pregnant women arriving in the country to have their babies and then departing again within days. But there is heated debate over the scale of such cases. The authorities say the new scheme would put a stop to the practice, portraying it as sensible protection and not a racist policy.

One critic, Proinsias De Rossa of the Labour Party, declared of the government: "They are promoting intolerance and they are a disgrace. People should vote against this proposal. It is not the kind of Ireland we want."

http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/story.jsp?story=530686