Anyone applied for an Irish passport as a descedent recently?

[wanttokickoffbutcant]

My passport has expired and I was thinking of getting an Irish one as my dad is from Ireland. I have looked on line and it looks really complicated and I just wanted to know if anyone has actually done it and is it that bad? I also want to get my daughter one and was hoping she could just get one if I do or do I have to go down the whole FBR route?

My grandfather was Irish but because my mother never took citizenship, I can't apply.

Not true - you can apply for an Irish PP via your grandfather.

Also your DM is automatically a citizen without applying.

Even the term “birth right”… claiming citizenship of a country that the majority here have not contributed to does feel “off” to me.Particularly if they’re only doing so to claim the perceived advantages said citizenship confers. It may not to you. But to me, claiming citizenship to a country someone has never lived in, paid taxes in, or otherwise engaged with in any meaningful way does feel off. You’re free to disagree, naturally.

Agreed. When I lived in England, Brexiteers kept telling me in very self-congratulatory fashion how they’d voted for Brexit but also applied for an Irish passport. They appeared to think I would admire their cleverness, despite their frequent anti-Irish prejudice and/or total ignorance of the country and its culture. ‘It’s very backward, isn’t it?’ opined one gem.

I most definitely did not vote for Brexit. Its my birthright to apply for irish citizenship. So I did.
I could have applied for Spanish, as I live in Spain, but decided On Irish and British as Spain dont allow dual so I would have had to give up my British

"it's one of the reasons I'm so angry that all the old farts in the UK voted for Brexit: They denied generations of young people the chance and choice to easily go live and study in a huge number of other countries. And what did they get for giving away that freedom?? Absolutely nothing - "
I think you can blame Cameron and Boris for the whole thing and as for old farts, being 65 now I voted remain and am very sad at the outcome as I planned to retire in europe. Don't make sweeping ill informed generalisations you poor young thing.

Incorrect.

you’re mum was automatically a citizen. She did not have to “take citizenship”. There is no such thing. I never formally “took citizenship”, but my kids still applied and got passports.

you absolutely can apply.

@caz123456 the tricky bit for you is proving your dad was your dad. I am not sure how that one works- I’d join the FBR Facebook group as this isn’t an uncommon problem.

The passport office website lists all the documents you'll need.

The birth cert, naming both parents, plus proof of identity of the applicant such as a British passport, driver's license, and if applicable, documents showing previous surname and new surname if you changed your name for any reason.

My DCs applied for their passports based on my birth in Ireland (exH is American) and needed to supply my long form birth cert (was ordered online), their birth certs (short form was fine), and various documents proving who they were (drivers license, utility bills, lease) and where they lived, plus the required photos, an affidavit from a person on a list of professional occupations to the effect that they had seen the official ID presented, it was the same person standing in front of them, and giving their phone number so the passport office could contact them to verify their identity and the id of the applicants. They sent my marriage certificate too, though not required, as it showed my change of name. The passport office called the professionals who signed the affidavit, so don't take this lightly

Just to let you know nobody says Eire, it has the opposite effect from what you intend

I'm Irish and of the opinion that the level of attachment doesn't matter at all. It actually smacks of 'blood and soil' imo, very distasteful.

I'm entitled to citizenship in a South American country and might well apply for that passport even though the ancestor who was born there left as a child and never returned. You can never have too many passports, and as long as it is legal to hold one, questions of national allegiance are irrelevant.

I believe you just have to apply for the passport as you are already considered Irish if you have a parent who is Irish

Babies fit that bill.

You'd need to define 'contribution' if you want to make the argument you're making. Lots of people don't 'contribute' after all.

Hundreds of thousands of passport carrying Irish people who left Ireland over the decades, some perhaps immediately after university, haven't 'contributed' either. Should they have their citizenship stripped from them?

There's something kind of scarily "racial purity" about it all but that's the Irish government's fault for having the laws they do. I find it kind of sick, the emphasis on bloodline, like having a great grandparent who was born there somehow makes you more worthy than being a first generation immigrant

Surely it depends if the mother was born in Ireland or northern Ireland? If the grandfather was Irish but the mother was born abroad then the daughter is not automatically Irish?

My grandparents were both born on the Island of Ireland and my mother too so I was automatically Irish but my children are not because I was born in London and didn't get my passport until after they were born so my understanding is they would have to go on the register of foreign birth.

By the way, the reason I didn't get a passport until I was an adult was because I didn't know I was able to.

How many of you have actually been here.

To me a first generation, and subsequent generation immigrants who live in Ireland have more right to an Irish passport than someone who has probably never spent more than two weeks in the country.
Someone who moves here, lives here and builds a life should absolutely be eligible for a passport.
Someone who has never been here, but their grandmother was born here and they want little Tarquin to move and work freely throughout the EU… not so much in my eyes.

the wording, iirc, is if you have “a parent born on the isle of Ireland” then you are automatically a citizen.

so my dad was born on Ireland. I was not. I am automatically a citizen.

my children were “born to an Irish citizen not born on the isle of Ireland”. In this case they need to apply to FBR for citizenship.

pp’s grandfather was born “on the isle of Ireland”. Mum was not, but as her parent was she is automatically a citizen. Therefore pp can apply to the FBR and from there get a passport.

And how many of these young adults who are going to benefit from and Irish passport have actually set foot in the country or have any genuine knowledge of or affinity to Irish culture? The post Brexit Irish are a strange breed indeed.

Yes, children born to people born on the Island of Ireland are automatically Irish citizenship regardless of where they are born. The island of Ireland includes Northern Ireland as per the political agreement
The children of those children, can apply for citizenship through the Foreign births register

The good news for you is children are entitled to their passports, but you need to add them to the Foreign births register first. If you do this, their children and their grandchildren also can.

It’s nothing do with when you got your passport. They are not “automatically Irish” under any circumstance.

if they are born to an Irish citizen not born on Ireland then they are eligible for the FBR. You can be a citizen without a passport so whether you have one or not is irrelevant

i did not get my passport until after my children had registered on the FBR.

Because its not a thread about that.
My grandfather was extremely proud to be Irish born and bread. We all grew up with that ingrained in us. We all followed his religion.
You asked if I feel "off" using that for a passport and I said no I dont. Not even a bit. I could have applied from both sides and my mums dad Was Irish, and my Dad's mum.
I used my mum's dad because he was the person whol first told me im of Irish heritage.
And regardless it doesn't matter. The rules are quite clear, and ethics dont apply here

I have always lived in the UK, but growing up spent every school holiday, including the whole of the summer holidays, in Ireland. The happiest parts of my childhood were spent there.

Dh fell for the place (and my family) long before we were married, we seriously considered moving there at one point and we have been over every year since we got together (39 years now). All of my dc’s holidays have been spent there as well. We used to stay with my grandparents. Df lived in the uk for the middle part of his life, but moved back in his 50’s, so then we stayed with him and as he has now passed away, we now have my aunt and uncle.

Unfortunately we have now missed a couple of years due to my and one of my dc’s health, but will travel again as soon as we are able. We have a huge amount of family over there and while I do agree it would be wrong of me to say I ‘feel Irish’, I do have a strong connection with Ireland and am extremely proud of that part of my heritage. My dc, all feel the same (dd is currently devouring every book she can get hold of regarding Irish history, having finished all the ones she had on folklore). So it’s more than just getting a passport for us, it’s about not losing a very important part of our family’s heritage.

I think some of the thread may have come across a bit transactional, purely because it was about the practicalities, rather than people’s motivation for applying for citizenship/passports.