(18 min in)
McDowell re-affirms “we can’t be the only country in Europe” to give children born in Ireland of foreign parents an automatic right to Irish citizenship
In a radio interview with Niall Boylan of Classic Hits FM, Michael McDowell outlines the history behind the Citizenship referendum held in 2004.
Mr McDowell stated the reasons for the referendum at the time and also outlines why its a very bad idea for Ireland to “be the only country in Europe that no matter what the circumstances are, if a child is born in Ireland, the child is a citizen…once you say a child is absolutely a citizen from the moment of birth, you give the parents the right to reside in Ireland with that citizen”.
“I stand with the 80% of the Irish people who saw the sense of the whole thing — that citizenship is a serious matter, and you can’t just be the only country in Europe that no matter what the circumstances are, if a child is born in Ireland, the child is a citizen…”
“once you say a child is absolutely a citizen from the moment of birth, you give the parents the right to reside in Ireland with that citizen except in very limited circumstances, and then you create all the problems that arose”, said Mr Mc Dowell.
The radio clip can be listened to here from 16 minutes. Highly recommended.
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