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Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 15 Dec 1948

Vol. 113 No. 12

Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Irish Nationals in England.

asked the Minister for External Affairs if he will make an authoritative statement setting out their exact legal position in all its bearings for the guidance of Irish citizens resident in England under the British Nationality Act, 1948, which comes into force on the 1st January, 1949.

The Deputy will appreciate that I cannot make authoritative legal statements about the law of another country. That is a matter for the courts and other competent authorities of the country concerned. The principal provisions of the British Nationality Act dealing with the position of Irish citizens are, however, as follows:—

(1) Irish citizens, irrespective of their place of residence, will no longer be British subjects under the law of Great Britain.

(2) Existing laws in force in Britain continue to have effect in relation to Irish citizens who are not British subjects in the same manner as they have effect in relation to British subjects, until provision is made to the contrary; but

(3) Specific provision is made whereby this will not operate to make Irish citizens resident in Great Britain or the British Colonies liable to prosecution for acts done outside Great Britain which would not be offences if committed by an alien.

(4) Irish citizens who have existing associations with Great Britain—as, for example, by service under the Crown, or the holding of a British passport, or descent, or residence in Britain or any British colony—may continue to be regarded as British subjects under the law in force in Great Britain, if they claim by notice in writing to the British Home Secretary that that is their desire.

(5) Irish citizens who have been ordinarily resident in Great Britain for 12 months may become citizens of the United Kingdom by registering in accordance with the provisions of the Act.

(6) An Irish citizen who is also a citizen of the United Kingdom under the provisions of the new Act may, if he so desires, renounce his United Kingdom citizenship.

(7) Finally, the word "alien" is defined in the Act as meaning a person who is not a British subject, a British-protected person or an Irish citizen.

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