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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

WIBU to move to Ireland to give birth

331 replies

DahlTheGalah · 18/12/2017 08:17

So that my baby would be an Irish and therefore EU citizen?

It seems farfetched to me, but I'm half serious. I am still so sad about Brexit, and being pregnant is bringing it home more as I've had the most wonderful and enriching experiences studying, living and working in Europe and am sad my baby may well not have those opportunities in the same way.

Currently, babies born on the island of Ireland to British Nationals get Irish (and therefore EU) citizenship. I am not Irish, but British currently living in Britain, and would be just making use of this law.

Has anyone else thought of doing this for the same reasons, or actually gone ahead?

How U am I being?

OP posts:
manicmij · 19/12/2017 18:36

Is NI not British? Currently a British EU passport, come Brexit will still be British but no EU passport. Or, have I missed something about NI no longer being part of UK. Southern Ireland is EU and will remain EU with their own Irish passport.

CarefullyAirbrushedPotato · 19/12/2017 18:38

I would give it serious consideration, NI though not Eire.
I'm working towards getting the EU citizenship to which I am entitled and passing it on to my kids. Options are never a bad thing, surely?

I would prefer if my children, descended from forriners, would be able to move freely rather than be stuck on this island with people with the same happy mindset as specialsubject

Nothomealone · 19/12/2017 18:39

manc my understanding is that if you are born in NI the Republic of Ireland will allow to have dual nationality and you can apply for one of their passports as well, this is not related to Brexit and predates it. It does mean that citizens of NI are the only part of the U.K. Who will have an option to retain EU freedom of movement etc as it stands.

bananafish81 · 19/12/2017 18:39

Banana I’m from a EU/Schengen country and I honestly don’t see anything wrong with this. I’d probably do the same if I was in your situation.

Yup, I am now a proud dual national - when I collected my naturalisation certificate from the German embassy earlier in the year, I was given a little badge with both the German and British flags on, which was a very sweet touch. They said they'd had to order a load in extra because of the avalanche of British Jews who were also applying for their German citizenship under the same provision in the German constitution.

This thread is a good nudge to book my appointment at the embassy to apply for my German passport! Wink

Original poster
DahlTheGalah · 19/12/2017 18:42

manicmij yes NI is part of the UK, but following the Good Friday Agreement, anyone born on the Island of Ireland, including NI, has the right to Irish citizenship. So, somebody born in NI is entitled to both UK and Irish citizenship, and would therefore retain EU citizenship (through their Irish citizenship) after Brexit. But obviously this was set up to help manage a specific delicate situation following a horrendous time, and so to many it justifiably smacks of insufferable entitlement for someone like me to make use of the law in a different context.

OP posts:
Original poster
DahlTheGalah · 19/12/2017 18:45

I ended up leaving Germany one year shy of being able to qualify for citizenship there myself, through naturalisation. It was well before Brexit, and the possibility of losing EU citizenship had never crossed my mind...ah, hindsight.

OP posts:
KnowItNo · 19/12/2017 18:50

No need to focus on negatives about Brexit - EU already is showing that they can blackmail us all they like. Sour people who cant over results are the ones that weaken this country. Accept and move on and make best out of situation

That's exactly what I'm doing by getting my EU citizenship - making the best of a bad situation

This.

DH and I are getting dual nationality for us and future DC and feel sad for our DNs who are coming to spend Christmas with us in France - with a quick hop over the border to visit our friends in Italy - as they do every year. The eldest had been thinking of applying to uni in France in a couple of years' time, but the likelihood of it being as affordable as it is now once he ceases to be an EU citizen is very low. Their whole lives they have had FOM and it will be going, without them ever having had a say.

They will survive (and proud auntie knows they will flourish) but it's silly to think their life is going to be easier as a result of Brexit.

Original poster
DahlTheGalah · 19/12/2017 18:51

Thank goodness we have Trump as our president! Well, thank heaven for small mercies Envy

OP posts:
illustrious · 19/12/2017 18:53

dahlTheGalah - I wouldn't worry about 'entitlement'. The Good Friday Agreement allowed us easy DUAL nationality if we cared to claim it. You could get Irish passports living in the north before that if you wanted, but many from the north preferred a UK one and it wasn't as straightforward to have both.

Nothomealone · 19/12/2017 19:08

PolarBerkshire Did it lift people's spirits
Good news it lifted my spirits. I am pleased to see people push back against the asset striping of they and their childrens rights without their consent.
I also have a happy imagine of thousands of heavily pregnant women in line at the ferry to Belfast. The fuss the DUP would make about this also lifts my spirits.

Katherine2626 · 19/12/2017 19:15

Why won't your child be able to travel to and work in Europe? British people travel to and work in Australia, America - if a person has the right skill set why should they not live and work abroad if they want to?

VladmirsPoutine · 19/12/2017 19:20

Come to think of it, perhaps its better to just nod and smile at those who keep repeating that we still be able to live, travel and work in Europe after Brexit. That way then perhaps there'll be less of a waiting time when the rest of us get cracking with our various EU citizenship applications.

Beezley · 19/12/2017 19:22

I'm Irish and don't use Ireland for you own benefits

smellycoat · 19/12/2017 19:28

Don't worry about upsetting anybodies maternity services. Over the years countless Irish girls have got pregnant in England and had abortions in England etc. etc
There will be a cost to having a baby wherever you have it!

Purple39797 · 19/12/2017 19:35

@smelly this has been written before but Irish girls PAY FOR THEIR ABORTIONS.

The wording of your post is really hostile towards Irish women - they come to england for abortions because they don't have any other option and they get zero help from the nhs.

musketeersmama · 19/12/2017 19:35

The point is Smelly that both Irish and Northern Irish girls (until v v recently) have had to pay for the privilege of traveling to England having an abortion.
Despite that,and the general crazy politics, NI is a fantastic place to live. Good luck with your decision & your baby OP

Purple39797 · 19/12/2017 19:37

@smelly 'don't worry about upsetting anybodies maternity services' - why not? Because Irish girls have to travel and pay for abortions no one should worry about the massive strain on their maternity services?

Nasty.

IsaSchmisa · 19/12/2017 19:43

Funny how Brexiters try to minimise the benefits of retaining/acquiring an EU nationality by telling us that skilled workers will still be able to move post Brexit. Nothing about unskilled workers, indeed the closest any of them got while calm down dearing was a remark about drug dealing in Magaluf.

And yet I thought it was Remainers who were supposed to be the elitists who didn't care about those who've been Left Behind..

bananafish81 · 19/12/2017 19:58

Why won't your child be able to travel to and work in Europe? British people travel to and work in Australia, America - if a person has the right skill set why should they not live and work abroad if they want to?

Yes because everyone can get a visa in any circumstance - you'll never have to worry about whether you fit a country's specific requirements for in demand skills. The clue is in the last sentence - 'the right skill set'

Getting a visa is so easy it's just as easy as having freedom of movement and being able to live and work anywhere without needing a visa

(Your experience of US visa requirements must be very different to that of my many friends who've gone there to live and work, and required either direct visa sponsorship by an employer, or significant exceptional skills or massive financial investment to start a business there)

OkPedro · 19/12/2017 20:09

smelly if Irish girls are getting pregnant and having abortions in England and they use the NHS then they're entitled to. If Irish girls travel to England having become pregnant in Ireland they have to pay for the abortion. Two different situations

specialsubject · 19/12/2017 20:11

Like it or not, drug dealing in Magaluf IS a standard seasonal worker job. Look it up, there are plenty of vacancies for laughing gas sellers and similar on respectable job sites.

They wont even see it as dealing.

IsaSchmisa · 19/12/2017 20:19

That still leaves us with the elitist focus on skilled workers, then. No fucks in evidence for British citizens without the right skills.

VladmirsPoutine · 19/12/2017 20:24

special Have you just decided to abandon all rational thought? There's quite a gulf between say a cyber security expert or an EU trade lawyer and a lad selling canisters down a back road in Magaluf. Confused

peanut2017 · 19/12/2017 20:42

Innagazing

Sorry but I agree with Whittling and user. It's just what our already overwhelmed maternity services need.
Cuirderussie, Whittling and User - I'm pretty certain that a few Irish women have had their babies (or abortions) on mainland Britain, so you could just view this circumstance as a quid pro quo arrangement.

What a stupid and horrible thing to say. If an Irish woman has an abortion in the uk it is paid for by the woman???

junebirthdaygirl · 19/12/2017 20:53

Only read half the thread but just to clear something up. Ireland has second best rate of safe deliveries in Europe . Ahead of the Uk and thats with us having the highest birthrate. So Op feel very safe if you decide to have your baby in the Republic of Ireland. You will be fine.