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A rally to prevent "two tiers" of Irish citizens

The "We Are Irish Too" Rally takes place in Belfast tomorrow at noon, to highlight a legal comple...

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17.28 19 Apr 2019


A rally to prevent "two tiers" of Irish citizens


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17.28 19 Apr 2019


The "We Are Irish Too" Rally takes place in Belfast tomorrow at noon, to highlight a legal complexity that may threaten the access rights of citizens in Northern Ireland to EU benefits after Brexit.

The Good Friday Agreement allows people of Northern Ireland to be accepted as British, Irish or both as each individual chooses. However, the British government didn't fully enact that into domestic legislation, and therefore all citizens of the North are still automatically British.

Irish passport holders are classed as dual nationals, who are British-Irish nationals.

But a new law change means that a dual national born British will not meet the definition of an EEA national, and it's claimed they will lose their EU rights and benefits.

Emma deSouza claims this makes two tiers of Irish citizens, and so she has arranged a protest to call on Westminster to implement the Good Friday Agreement in full.

She joined Susan to explain her concerns


Read more about

Brexit British Citizenship EEA EU Emma DeSouza Irish National Passport Rights

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