Dual nationals - what's your engagement with your other country ?

[venividivice]

Extremely long time lurker here finally bothered to post after a friend who is Irish made a comment about having a vote if the EU deal was put to a referendum in Ireland ...

just curious what people who have another Eu nationality are doing form that point of view. Are you following Brexit from your countries perspective ? What do they make of it ?

[Mistigri]

My teenage/ young adult children are both dual nationals living in France. (I also live in France but am British only).

What my kids think about Brexit is unprintable but the really big impact has been on their attitudes towards their "home" country (home in the sense that both were born 100% British rather than being dual nationals at birth - they only acquired dual nationality at age 13).

They grew up with a very positive image of the UK despite living outside it - the way they thought about the UK was heavily influenced by the ubiquity of British popular culture (think Sherlock, Harry Potter etc) and by the commonly held (by young Europeans) view of the UK as a very open, diverse and dynamic society.

Brexit has really changed that image, probably more than is justified by the reality - they don't visit the UK very often. They increasingly think of the UK as xenophobic and isolated, and British politics as insane (that's a polite way of putting it) - social media has played a role in this change of opinion but they are also both readers of the serious European and international press (DD has subscriptions to the economist and le Monde and I have the FT for work).

DD is applying for higher education courses for next year and whereas until recently I'd have expected her to seriously consider British universities, she is adamant that she will not study in the UK. If she were to spend part of her education at an English-speaking university it would most likely be Dublin, or one of the faculties in northern Europe where English is the teaching language. Trump and Brexit have made the US and the UK far less attractive to her, and I very much doubt she is alone among her European peers in this respect.

[LondonMum8]

That's a crucial point: the British brand is suffering enormously through this shit show, and it is only a matter of time before this further affects UK's bottom line.

[Mistigri]

It is already obvious in the net migration numbers that Britain is much less attractive as a destination for EU migrants. I think permanent harm has been done to Britain's international reputation and that whatever happens now (personally I still think that Brexit in name only is the most likely outcome), educated young Europeans will be less likely to consider studying or working in the UK in future.

DD would have been a potential Oxbridge candidate. She can't be the only teenager with similar potential who has been put off studying in the UK.

[Steamcloud]

Basically the same as Mistigri. We're in Northern continental Europe. My (younger) teen had previously been v proud of her British nationality and (largely because our summer visits to her aunts are all tea and cakes!) had a rather idealised view of the UK. That's all changed since the vote. She's always kept her nationality quiet at school (like all teens wants to fit in with majority) but now she keeps it even quieter! Her friends and the families of her friends are utterly bewildered by Brexit (why would we want to commit an act of such self sabotage?) and look upon us with pity more than anything I think. Ditto re: potential uni choices too.

[DGRossetti]

She's always kept her nationality quiet at school (like all teens wants to fit in with majority) but now she keeps it even quieter!

Like I used to, at school in London - only the other way .

An ill I can now correct by making a proud point of being half British.

[Cailleach1]

A new trade deal like that will not go to a referendum in Ireland. The Irish gov't can decide trade deals.

Maybe if there was a new treaty wrt the organisation of the EU or summat.

But not to worry. I'm sure the Irish gov't will try to act in Irish interests and not let the country be decimated by those with ill intentions. Ironically, 'no deal' is probably better than a 'bad deal' for Ireland. It will help focus the mind.

[RosiePosiePuddle]

My husband and son are European. I am British. It is highly likely that we will never return to the UK. My husband is in a low-payng profession with shitty working conditions. We don't know the expectations of him if we were to return (private health insurance on his salary!!!). Also I can't see his working conditions having improved since when we last lived in the UK. 60-70 hours a week for 17k a year 7 years ago. My own job pays more but is public sector and very highly hit by the cuts, making it very unappealing to return. Instead we are living outside of the eu and have a very nice life in which we are paid well without the insane working conditions. To go back to the UK would be madness.

[RosiePosiePuddle]

To make it clear, I do not expect either of our work situations to be improved after Brexit. In fact I expect them to get even worse.

[Steamcloud]

[DGRossetti sorry you had that experience at school. Just for clarification, dd is not too because a huge number of her classmates are from a different country, so that is the norm ifyswim and they are in same boat.]

Meant to say that I doubt we will ever return to UK either.

[Steamcloud]

Posted too soon! We probably wouldn't have returned had Brexit not been happening, but now it seems to be going through [sad, it is much more likely that we will never go back.

[ElenaGreco123]

Noone cares about Brexit where I am from. A common expression for the Brexit referendum (used in 2016, when anyone cared at all) was "to stab yourself in the d*ck". That says it all.