My purpose in raising this matter on the Adjournment is to seek to obtain citizenship through foreign births registration for three brothers, all of whom were born in South Africa. These three people are being unfairly denied Irish citizenship.
Their father, who lives in South Africa, has a current Irish passport. He commenced inquires in 1984 to obtain the necessary information which would enable him to apply for Irish passports for his three sons. He contacted the Registrar of Births and the parish priest of the parish where he believed his grandmother was born.
His grandmother was born in 1860. However, as the Minister is probably aware, civil registration of births did not commence in Ireland until 1 January 1864. As a result, there was no civil record of her birth. The father also received a negative reply from the parish priest, who said the birth could not be traced. This occurred during the period 1984-86.
As the Minister is aware, the law on Irish citizenship is governed by the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Acts, 1956 and 1986. The 1986 Act restricted the eligibility to registered great-grand-children of a person born in Ireland. There was also a six months transitional period, which ended on 31 December 1986. This six months period gave people who would qualify time to prepare the necessary documentation. However, we were unable to trace the birth certificate at that time.
The father of the three applicants continued his search and his grandmother's birth was eventually traced. However, this happened after 1986. In 1990, the father, who has an Irish passport, lodged an appeal to have his three sons granted Irish citizenship but the Department of Foreign Affairs rejected his application. Despite a number of appeals since to many Ministers of different views the application has continued to be refused.
The people from my constituency who approached me about this matter feel aggrieved that their relations are being deprived of their passports. We are talking about three men who are descendants of Irish people. They have Irish blood in their veins. They have an attachment to and an affinity with this country and they want Irish citizenship. They are people of modest means and do not have the funds which would enable them to come in under the rules governing the granting of citizenship through investment in Ireland. They do not want citizenship on the basis of a cheque book, rather as of right. This is a genuine case, which does not require a red tape response but one which is based on understanding, common sense and, above all, fair play.
