Letter from the Rt Hon Shaun Woodward
MP, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, to Mr Gregory Campbell
MP
BRITISH PASSPORTS FOR IRISH-BORN RESIDENTS
OF NORTHERN IRELAND
At the session of the Northern Ireland Affairs
Committee held on 30 January I undertook to come back to you on
a matter you raised concerning access to British passports for
residents of Northern Ireland who had been born in the Republic
of Ireland.
As you know, the entitlement in the Belfast
Agreement is for people born in Northern Ireland (with at least
one parent who is either British or Irish) to identify themselves
as British or Irish or both and to hold both British or Irish
citizenship. The arrangements—in relation to both UK citizenship
and Irish citizenship—for people born outside Northern Ireland
are unrelated to this commitment and, of course, a matter for
the individual sovereign states concerned. There is therefore
no requirement for parity between the UK's and Ireland's citizenship
rules other than in relation to the commitment in the Belfast
Agreement. Should the situation ever change and Northern Ireland
become part of the Republic of Ireland, the British government
would afford people of Northern Ireland the same entitlement to
British citizenship as they have currently.
The UK places the same requirements for acquiring
British citizenship on Irish citizens as it does on other EU citizens
and there is unfortunately little flexibility available over either
the citizenship requirements or the fees. It is government policy
not to give financial assistance to applicants seeking British
citizenship, wherever they are from and whatever their background.
The fees which are set at levels which aim to recover the cost
of processing applications and reducing or waiving fees in some
cases would increase the costs for the remaining applicants.
At present, there appears to be no evidence
of significant demand for a change to the arrangements. Despite
a newspaper campaign, we have received representations from only
12 individuals, at least some of whom were born before 1949 and
therefore are entitled to obtain British subject staus already.
Home Office figures for 2005 indicate that less than 200 applications
for British citizenship were made within the whole of the UK.
The apparent small scale of the problem makes
it difficult to justify a change in policy at the current time.
Should there be any evidence that the problem is more wide-spread
I would be happy to ask the Home Secretary to look at the issue
again.
I am copying this letter to Sir Patrick Cormack.
Rt Hon Shaun Woodward MP
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
29 February 2008
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