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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:
danTDM · 18/12/2017 15:19

YY, I have a 70 year old male friend here in Spain, he says 'oh don't worry, I was fine before the EU'

Thing is, things have changed SO much, even in the 10 years I lived here. He only has the EU health card thing, which is for holiday emergencies. He is not covered on the Spanish system. Having zero right to be.

He also has several quite serious existing heart and other conditions.

Lots of elderly expats out here I think are going to be in for a shock if they need healthcare long term.

If you own a house, that's the first thing the Spanish gvmt will take off people and are taking off people, to pay for healthcare. It will only get worse post brexit. People spouting 'oh it used to be fine' are really missing the point.

danTDM · 18/12/2017 15:21

Sorry, I was talking to Vlad there, about people who are blasé about free movement no.

danTDM · 18/12/2017 15:22

now FFS!

danTDM · 18/12/2017 15:24

The OP is going to live and work there (potentially) she is not 75 having had a quadruple bypass. She has a lot to offer the country. Her taxes have been contributing.

IsaSchmisa · 18/12/2017 15:26

I know OP was very misleading with her title so the health tourist comments are partially her fault, but blimey, cancel the Irish cheque.

Original poster
DahlTheGalah · 18/12/2017 15:27

Health tourism takes away precious funds from the people who need it the most. I am paying tax towards the healthcare system I would be using, though, and hope I would contribute to the community after the birth and going back to work.

Your priority should not be passports - it should be finding the best maternity hospital that will give you and your baby the best care. I see what you mean but my priority isn't passports so much as trying to give my child a good and safe start in life -- I have to move away anyway, and would value the chance to move further away from the baby's father in the long run.

senzaparole03 and zsazsajuju thank you. I had not meant this to end up a thread all about me but there have been some helpful replies (I really have been so confused about the coming months!).

It's quite something to see the entitlement of people who feel they can "shop around" for a national identity It's not about this. It's about securing for my child the identity I currently hold that means the most to me (I have always felt much more of an EU citizen than a UK one) but which I am going to lose. I know how privileged I am, though.

OP posts:
VladmirsPoutine · 18/12/2017 15:28

dan I agree, people are literally sleep-walking into the abyss. On the back of brexit alone quite a few of my friends got engaged to their EU-citizen fiancés. This shit is real.

Original poster
DahlTheGalah · 18/12/2017 15:30

IsaSchmisa Yes I absolutely brought this on myself with my title. But your "cancel the Irish cheque" comment has made me smile! Smile

OP posts:
HermioneAndTheSniffle · 18/12/2017 15:47

This thread is funny in some ways.
Plenty of talk about no one ever thinking about NI butbthen jjstbas many people who are basically reacting as NI was a totally different country than the U.K. rather than being part of the U.K....
Talk about health tourism when deciding to give in a different part of your own country...

As for shopping for citizenship....
Not much different than eu citizens getting the British citizenship just to cover their arse and be sure they won’t into trouble some years down the line. But apparently, that’s great because they are showing they really WANT to stay in the uk.
So FoM my pov, the OP is showing she really WANT to stay in the eu

Original poster
DahlTheGalah · 18/12/2017 15:47

Also, to avoid further future stupidity on my part, is there a particular way to refer to the land mass on which both NI and the ROI are (in the way that Scotland, Wales and England plus certain islands are "Great Britain")? Is it "the island of Ireland"?

OP posts:
HermioneAndTheSniffle · 18/12/2017 15:50

Sorry,

You are showing you really want to stay part of the EU. And that’s ok imo.

It’s totally true that a lot of people aren’t extremely naive as to what is going to happen. Eu And Brits.
Maybe everything will be great. But it won’t hurt to protect the rights we have atm and might well loose (on both sides)

youwouldthink · 18/12/2017 15:55

Honestly what a thing to suggest. We are paying tax through the nose here just to give our maternity services a leg up. I have full top private medical insurance on top of this and my daughters birth still cost me almost 2K.

It's wrong to do this on so many accounts.

JustHope · 18/12/2017 16:16

It's quite something to see the entitlement of people who feel they can "shop around" for a national identity.

I feel really annoyed that Irish citizenship is being taken by many people that really have no respect or idea what it means to be Irish. People like the OP are absolutely taking the piss as are some of those who voted for Brexit and then applied for for an Irish passport through a long lost great granny so as not to be inconvenienced when travelling to Europe on holiday. We are a small country with a difficult past and a strong proud identity. We fought hard to be the country we are today and people who have never even set foot in Ireland are taking Irish citizenship and couldn’t care less as long as they have some sort of free pass to the EU.

I hope the Irish government wake up and tighten their regulations on this.

curryforbreakfast · 18/12/2017 16:22

Also, to avoid further future stupidity on my part, is there a particular way to refer to the land mass on which both NI and the ROI are (in the way that Scotland, Wales and England plus certain islands are "Great Britain")? Is it "the island of Ireland"?

It is the island of Ireland. But you used Ireland in your title and OP, which means the country of Ireland, specifically NOT Northern Ireland.
One is a foreign country, one is part of your own. There are few instances when you would not need to clearly specify which you mean, which you did not to begin with which is why people answered you in the way they did.

Ireland is the name of the country, as in republic of. You cannot use it to mean Northern Ireland.

youwouldthink · 18/12/2017 16:23

Well said JustHope!

Original poster
DahlTheGalah · 18/12/2017 16:24

JustHope I am sorry that I have offended you. You're right that I do not really understand what it means to be Irish, not being Irish myself, but I do respect what it means to be Irish. I hope my child would be proud to be an Irish citizen, and I would like to get to understand and appreciate more about the island of Ireland through moving to NI and trying to build a new life there for him or her.

OP posts:
curryforbreakfast · 18/12/2017 16:25

What do you think you would learn about being Irish from moving to a different part of the UK?

Loveache · 18/12/2017 16:27

Should anything go wrong, and I hope it would not, an Irish hospital would (have to) prioritise the baby over you, viable or not. Google Savita.

TheIntrovertedMum · 18/12/2017 16:28

As a person living in Northern Ireland YABU our maternity services are stretched enough without you being pathetic about brexit 🙄

danTDM · 18/12/2017 16:30

This all got confusing because of the badly worded OP which OP has explained now.

NI she has paid into the system, why the hell shouldn't she go there? It's part of the UK.

Obviously ROI would be all sorts of wrong.

Also, at my school and my uni, so many of my friends were from NI, I had at least 3 boyfriends from Belfast as I love the accent.
There has always been huge pockets of Irish all over the world, they love emigrating! I don't see the problem here. Yes the OP is seeing the passport as an added advantage, but so what?

Typically and historically London was seen as the land of opportunity and many NI went there. Now it might be reversed and people might go to NI. Boost to the economy surely?

VladmirsPoutine · 18/12/2017 16:30

Do the people who spouting contempt on Ireland's behalf have an issue with migration in its general sense?

Original poster
DahlTheGalah · 18/12/2017 16:31

Ireland is the name of the country, as in republic of. You cannot use it to mean Northern Ireland.

Yes, thank you and sorry. Is there a favoured term for the land mass on which both Ireland and Northern Ireland are? (Because the citizenship law applies to both, I was trying and failing to include both in my OP title). My baby and I would be living in Northern Ireland, though, because that is where I have the offer of a place to stay to get us started.

What do you think you would learn about being Irish from moving to a different part of the UK? It would be easier for me to visit my family in Dublin (and also County Louth) from there, and the person I would be living with in Northern Ireland is also Irish.

OP posts:
Original poster
DahlTheGalah · 18/12/2017 16:36

curryforbreakfast
It is the island of Ireland. But you used Ireland in your title and OP Thank you and sorry again. I did use the "island of Ireland" in the body of my OP but, crucially, not in the title.

OP posts:
danTDM · 18/12/2017 16:36

I've moved to Spain, should I not have?

I have also been seriously ill, though it is free as I am married to a Spaniard and have a Spanish daughter and been here ten years and paid taxes etc, they send you 'the bill' after so you know how much the govmt has paid for your healthcare.

Mine was 70,000euros, for 5 months in hospital! Gulp Sad

You have to be careful about saying people can't move if they want and are entitled to.

Problem is, it just sounded dodgy to start with and now it clearly is not.

curryforbreakfast · 18/12/2017 16:37

The citizenship laws don't apply to both in the same way.

I don't think people can grasp that they are two separate and different countries.