If you have Irish ancestry or Irish family members and have significant connections to Ireland then you may be eligible to apply for Irish citizenship.
New guidelines recently published by the Department of Justice have clarified the requirements to qualify for citizenship under Section 16 of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956, which allows the Minister for Justice to set aside the usual requirements that apply when seeking citizenship (such as the residency requirements) if a person can show they are of Irish descent or have Irish associations.
There are three requirements that need to be met to qualify under Section 16:
1. Prove Irish descent or Irish associations
The first step is to show that you are of Irish descent or have ‘Irish associations’.
Irish descent includes direct lineal descendants of a person who is, or was at the time of their death, an Irish citizen – such as great-grandchildren of Irish citizens.
‘Irish Associations’ includes anyone who is related to someone who is (or is entitled to be) an Irish citizen, or someone who was (or was entitled to be) an Irish citizen at the time of their death, through:
- Blood – this includes parents or grandparents of an Irish citizen child or siblings of an Irish citizen.
- Affinity – where a person is related to an Irish citizen by marriage – this includes the spouse and the spouse’s immediate blood relatives (such as their parents or siblings).
- Adoption – where the adoption is recognised under the Adoption Act 2010, or was based on legitimate legal processes where the child’s welfare was paramount.
- Civil partnership – where the civil partnership is registered under the Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010 (the 2010 Act) or recognised under Section 5 of the 2010 Act.
2. Prove a sufficiently ‘strong connection’ to Ireland
After Irish descent or Irish associations have been proved, a person must then show that they have a sufficiently strong connection to Ireland.
The Minister for Justice will decide this by looking at four different categories:
- Experiential connection to Ireland
- Family connection to Ireland
- Cultural connection to Ireland
- Establishment in Ireland
For each of these categories there are specific factors that will be considered, including whether a person has:
- Lived in Ireland or visited Ireland frequently in the last 10 years
- Any family members who are Irish citizens and ordinarily resident in Ireland
- Contributed significantly to the Irish nation, such as through volunteer work, artistic or sporting endeavours, supporting Irish diaspora or promoting Ireland abroad, etc.
- Any qualifications from Ireland
- An active Irish driving licence or bank account
Each of these factors is worth a specific number of points – an application will only be considered to have a ‘strong connection’ if it has at least 50% of the total available points in at least 2 of the 4 categories listed above.
3. Minister for Justice must be satisfied the relevant statutory naturalisation conditions can be waived
Once a person has established that they have Irish descent or Irish associations and a sufficiently ‘strong connection’ to Ireland, the Minister for Justice will assess their case and decide whether the usual conditions for naturalisation should be waived – such as the requirement to have lived in Ireland for at least 5 years.
It is important to keep in mind that these applications are discretionary – they are assessed on a case-by-case basis by the Minister for Justice, and there is no guarantee of success even if all of the above criteria are met.
If you are interested in applying for Irish citizenship on the basis of Irish descent or Irish associations, we would be happy to meet with you for an initial consultation to advise you on your eligibility and the application process. Please email us at info@mcrathmullan.ie or call us on +353 (0) 1 873 5012 for more information.