What good would applying for Irish citizenship do? I am an Irish citizen and I would hate to have to move back. I'd have to pay for gp, prescriptions, hospital care, dental care, bin collections, calling out the emergency services .... All the things I get for free here, as I have an NHS tax exemption certificate and I don't pay council tax. The Irish government also make it hard to claim benefits, if you haven't lived there for a few years (my poor aunt and uncle couldn't claim anything at first when they moved back a few years ago, as they'd lived in the UK for nearly 30 years), so I'd also possibly lose out on housing benefit (Rent Allowance, although it might not be called that any more) and be at the back of the queue for social housing. And of course it's even harder getting a job there than here.