citizenship

A rights based society? How the UK Home Office is plummeting us into a rights disaster

Emma DeSouza on June 4, 2019, 12:30 pm

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When did it become acceptable for a government to disregard its duty of care to its citizens? When did the every day abuse of power become normal? We have a government department that is often described as being “a law unto itself” and that is tolerated. Either through apathy, ignorance or acceptance. The “hostile environment” is well publicised, the staggering incompetence documented and regularly reported on. Yet instead of reform or a roll back we are seeing an expansion of …

We Are Irish Too – Fact Checked

Emma DeSouza on April 4, 2019, 10:49 pm

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I somewhat accidentally uncovered a change to the UK immigration rules recently that will have a serious impact on the people of Northern Ireland. On March 7th the UK Government changed the definition of an EEA national. The new definition states that EU citizens that also hold British citizenship will not meet the definition of an EEA national under the UK’s immigration rules, and will be unable to apply under the EU settlement scheme. In essence, they will be regarded …

Northern Ireland’s Unique Entitlement to EU Rights and Benefits: Why the 3 Million is Really 4.8 and Counting

Emma DeSouza on March 28, 2019, 6:58 pm

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There is a startling contrast between the EU and Westminster’s understanding of the unique status of Northern Ireland. In Strasbourg this week that was evident. A delegation including myself, Daniel Holder, Niall Murphy and Declan Fearon travelled there yesterday, to meet with a number of MEPs and senior EU staff to discuss the impact of Brexit on the rights of people in the north of Ireland. It was clear to me by the end of the trip – the EU …

The Citizenship Rights of the Good Friday Agreement – Real or Imagined?

Emma DeSouza on March 19, 2019, 10:00 am

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The Belfast Good Friday Agreement is widely championed as a success. Revered as a model of peace, it’s representative to many as a demonstration of the power of collaboration and compromise. And in a lot of ways, this is all true – “decommissioning”, the North South institutions, and power sharing have all changed the very fabric of Northern Ireland for the better. However, considering the lack of codification, the St. Andrews amendments and the current stalemate at Stormont, did we …

UK’s strongest constitutional card may be the very mildness of the loyalty it invokes…

Mick Fealty on February 1, 2013, 11:19 am

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John Lloyd argues that the moment for unity is over. I’m not sure I agree with him in that regard, in the sense that the moment has never yet appeared. Thus far, Sinn Fein’s call for a border poll has only served to emphasise a growing political distance between Northern Ireland and the south. The point Malachi O’Doherty I think was trying to make on Nolan the other night is a good one: people have strong emotional attachments to the …

The citizenship test: Protestants as well as Catholics in favour of fee waiver?

stephen.mcvey on May 2, 2012, 3:31 pm

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In Northern Ireland we have the unique situation where we can claim dual nationality. The bulk of the population is split between those who claim Irish citizenship and those who claim British citizenship. Following the news that sixth form pupils in the UK who hold Irish passports qualify for free university tuition in Scotland, the question arises whether the passport that a person from Northern Ireland holds, is the definitive mark of their nationality. It was originally believed that students …

NI Water: Why open government is more than a slogan for the chattering classes

Mick Fealty on September 3, 2010, 4:42 pm

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There’s a very sharply observed piece by Denis Bradley in today’s Irish News, which aside from lauding the work of John Dallat and others on the PAC, an intelligent whistle-blower and some fine words about Slugger, he also let’s slip a few fundamental truths about where the blame lies. And it is not with the politicians: “…it has caught the two governing parties on the hop. They didn’t see it coming. But anyone who has spent a few nights in the …