Citizenship Reform: Northern Ireland Good Friday Agreement
Implementations
Citizenship Reform – 1998
The referendum of 22 May 1998 in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland approved the Good Friday Agreement, leading to the amendment of Article 2 and 3 of the Republic of Ireland’s Constitution and the repeal of the Government of Ireland Act (1920) from the British side. These constitutional changes, however, did not lead to the citizenship provision in the constitution.
Citizenship Reform – 1999
Constitutional amendment did not take place.
Citizenship Reform – 2000
Constitutional amendment did not take place.
Citizenship Reform – 2001
Constitutional amendment did not take place.
Citizenship Reform – 2002
Constitutional amendment did not take place.
Citizenship Reform – 2003
Constitutional amendment did not take place.
Citizenship Reform – 2004
The Irish government finally amended its constitution on 24 June 2004 (27th Amendment), which stated that an Irish parent born on the island was “entitled [to] be an Irish citizen” (McAuley and Tonge, 2010).12. With this amendment in the Irish Constitution, citizens of Northern Ireland could choose to be citizens of the UK, Ireland, or both.
- “Constitution of Ireland,” Department of the Taoiseach, accessed January 21, 2013, http://www.taoiseach.gov.ie/attached_files/html%20files/Constitution%20o…(Eng)Nov2004.htm
- James W. McAuley and Jonathan Tonge, “Britishness (and Irishness) in Northern Ireland since the Good Friday Agreement”, Parliamentary Affairs 63, no. 2 (2010): 266—285
Citizenship Reform – 2005
The citizenship provision of the accord was implemented in 2004.
Citizenship Reform – 2006
No further developments observed.
Citizenship Reform – 2007
No further developments observed.