Applicants from England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland who are keen to remain part of the EU and have Irish heritage are applying for Eire citizenship in record numbers ahead of the June 23 referendum. Ireland has been an EU member state since 1973, and took the Euro as their currency in 1999 when they became part of the Eurozone.
If you are a UK resident worried about your country voting to leave the EU on June 23, check your heritage – you may be able to retain your personal EU status regardless of the result. If you have an Irish parent, grandparent, or even great grandparent you are eligible for an Irish passport and dual nationality.
What is Brexit?
The upcoming United Kingdom European Union Membership Referendum is the result of a promise Prime Minister David Cameron made to the British public ahead of his re-election in 2015. While the majority of politicians, corporate businesses, banks and even NATO have declared that Britain leaving the EU would be catastrophic for the country, there are many Britons who fear if they remain in the EU it is only a matter of time before they suffer the same fate as other EU nations this year and their country is swamped by millions of immigrants. These voters are part of the Brexit Campaign – Brexit being a hybrid of the words Britain and Exit.
Heavy weights such as Barack Obama visited the UK to support the stay campaign in April and many large business' have came out in support of the stay campaign.
There's been much discussion on the ethics of the leave campaign with many stating it's anti Europe, and most recently Baroness Warsi has left the leave campaign citing the presence of hate and xenophobia along with the constant ignoring of facts for quitting the leave campaign.
Surge in demand for Irish Passports
UK citizens who fear that their passport will lose much of its validity should Britain leave the EU have turned their attention to Ireland.
If Britain were to leave the EU, UK citizens will likely need to apply for visas if they wish to travel anywhere in Europe, including holiday destinations like Spain, France, Italy, Portugal and Greece.Such has been the sudden demand for Irish passports, the Irish Government has employed 200 new office staff purely to cope with the glut of applications.2ndpassports.com have reported a surge in applications for Irish passports since June and expect an even higher demand if the UK does vote to leave the EU.
Sky News revealed figures that stated that there have been over 1,500 UK applicants for Irish passports in 2016, and that figure appears to be escalating. In May alone there were almost 1000 applicants, and by their employment of 200 extra staff, the Irish government are clearly bracing themselves for an even greater demand for Irish citizenship should the UK vote to leave the EU on Thursday, June 23.
