Twenty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland

For the Irish Free State constitutional amendment, see Constitution (Amendment No. 27) Act 1936.

Twenty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland
11 June 2004 (2004-06-11)
To limit the right to Irish citizenship by birth
Results
Choice
 Votes %
Yes 1,427,520 79.17%
No 375,695 20.83%
Valid votes 1,803,215 98.89%
Invalid or blank votes 20,219 1.11%
Total votes 1,823,434 100.00%
Registered voters/turnout 3,041,688 59.95%

The Twenty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution Act 2004 (previously bill no. 15 of 2004) amended the Constitution of Ireland to limit the constitutional right to Irish citizenship of individuals born on the island of Ireland to the children of at least one Irish citizen and the children of at least one parent who is, at the time of the birth, entitled to Irish citizenship. It was approved by referendum on 11 June 2004 and signed into law on 24 June of the same year.[1] It affected in part changes made to the Constitution by the Nineteenth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland which was passed as part of the Good Friday Agreement.[2]

Changes to the text

A new Article 9.2 was inserted:

1° Notwithstanding any other provision of this Constitution, a person born in the island of Ireland, which includes its islands and seas, who does not have, at the time of the birth of that person, at least one parent who is an Irish citizen or entitled to be an Irish citizen is not entitled to Irish citizenship or nationality, unless provided for by law.
2° This section shall not apply to persons born before the date of the enactment of this section.

The former Article 9.2 was renumbered as Article 9.3.

Background

Prior to 1999, the right to citizenship by reason of birth in Ireland existed in ordinary legislation. The only people who had a constitutional right to citizenship were those who were citizens of the Irish Free State when the constitution came into force.[3] For those born after 1937, the Constitution stated that the "future acquisition and loss of Irish nationality and citizenship shall be determined in accordance with law".[4] This changed in 1999 when, as part of the Nineteenth Amendment, the following clause was inserted into Article 2 of the Constitution:

It is the entitlement and birthright of every person born in the island of Ireland, which includes its islands and seas, to be part of the Irish Nation. That is also the entitlement of all persons otherwise qualified in accordance with law to be citizens of Ireland.

This provision was intended to ensure that people from Northern Ireland would not be deprived of Irish citizenship, but also created a constitutional right to citizenship by birth.[3] Though immigration concerns did not feature much as an issue in the referendum campaign for the Nineteenth Amendment, it was given as an argument against in the Referendum Commission's leaflet:

"The new Article 2 will give a constitutional right of citizenship to anyone born in Ireland. This will make it very difficult to change the laws on citizenship and it may prevent the enactment of necessary laws to regulate immigration."

By 2002, it was reported that the number of births in Ireland's national maternity hospital had reached a 20-year high with 8,162 births, 15% of which were reported as being births to non-nationals.[5]

The Minister for Justice at the time Michael McDowell said that between 40% and 50% of non-EU nationals who give birth in Ireland were doing so to gain Irish citizenship for their children.[6]

In April 2004, an internal Department of Justice memo revealed that in August 2003, the Masters of Ireland's maternity hospitals had warned that pregnant women were arriving in Ireland from abroad with their "antenatal notes".[7]

In October 2004, a European Court of Justice ruling (Case C-200/02) Chen v Home Secretary ruled that the non-EU parent of a child who is a citizen of the Union had a right to reside with that child in the EU.

Campaign

The Twenty-seventh Amendment was introduced by the Fianna Fáil–Progressive Democrats coalition government of Bertie Ahern. It was also supported by Fine Gael (the largest opposition party) but they refused to campaign due to what they complained was insufficient consultation before the poll. The amendment was opposed by the Labour Party,[8] the Green Party,[8] and Sinn Féin,[8] as well as the Irish Human Rights Commission, a statutory body, and the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, a civil society non-profit organisation.[8] It was also opposed by Northern Ireland's SDLP, as Irish citizenship is an option for people born there.

The government presented the amendment as a common sense proposal that would close a constitutional loop-hole and allow Irish law to be brought into line with the rest of Europe.[9] In 2004, no other nation of the European Union granted citizenship by birth in the same manner as Ireland.

Some criticisms of the amendment related merely to the manner in which it was proposed. In the lead-up to the referendum the Irish and British governments issued a joint statement saying that they did not regard the proposed constitutional change as affecting the British-Irish Agreement[10] (this being the inter-governmental component of the Good Friday Agreement). The Democratic Unionist Party cited the amendment as evidence that the Agreement could be changed.[11]

The referendum on the amendment was held on the same day as both European and local elections.

In the referendum, the amendment was ultimately approved, by a large majority of almost 80% in favour.

Result

Twenty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland referendum[12]
Choice Votes %
Referendum passed Yes 1,427,520 79.17
No 375,695 20.83
Valid votes 1,803,215 98.89
Invalid or blank votes 20,219 1.11
Total votes 1,823,434 100.00
Registered voters/turnout 3,041,688 59.95

Although most Irish referendums count votes per Dáil constituency, this one was organised by city/county council area, the basis for the local elections being held simultaneously. Voters received different-coloured ballot papers for the referendum, city/county council election, and European Parliament election; all went into the same ballot box and were separated by colour once the boxes arrived at the count centre for the city/county.[13] Not all voters received all ballots as the franchises differ.

Results by constituency[12]
Constituency Electorate Turnout (%) Votes Proportion of votes
Yes No Yes No
County Carlow 37,914 57.5% 17,393 4,151 80.8% 19.2%
County Cavan 47,258 67.3% 25,320 6,030 80.8% 19.2%
County Clare 83,351 64.6% 42,822 10,329 80.6% 19.4%
Cork City 88,874 56.1% 38,931 10,531 78.8% 21.2%
County Cork 265,657 61.7% 127,992 33,805 79.2% 20.8%
County Donegal 116,125 62.2% 52,985 17,990 74.7% 25.3%
Dublin City 336,795 53.2% 138,685 39,323 78.0% 22.0%
Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown 148,125 55.3% 57,869 23,740 71.0% 29.0%
Fingal 138,807 56.6% 63,448 14,600 81.3% 18.7%
Galway City 41,925 50.3% 15,849 5,045 75.9% 24.1%
County Galway 118,937 64.8% 60,770 14,848 80.4% 19.6%
County Kerry 106,377 67.5% 56,147 14,635 79.4% 20.6%
County Kildare 127,162 52.4% 54,108 12,070 81.8% 18.2%
County Kilkenny 64,218 63.7% 32,079 8,251 79.6% 20.4%
County Laois 46,775 65.8% 24,809 5,549 81.8% 18.2%
County Leitrim 22,875 75.7% 12,977 4,034 76.3% 23.7%
Limerick City 37,649 56.6% 17,059 4,077 80.8% 19.2%
County Limerick 94,500 63.8% 47,858 11,643 80.5% 19.5%
County Longford 27,029 71.3% 15,970 2,958 84.4% 15.6%
County Louth 82,501 58.4% 39,633 8,185 82.9% 17.1%
County Mayo 96,888 65.5% 48,029 14,164 77.3% 22.7%
County Meath 116,300 54.4% 52,291 10,535 83.3% 16.7%
County Monaghan 44,074 69.1% 23,868 6,107 79.7% 20.3%
County Offaly 51,929 62.5% 25,771 6,207 80.6% 19.4%
County Roscommon 45,398 68.1% 24,269 6,191 79.7% 20.3%
County Sligo 46,861 68.9% 23,405 8,499 73.4% 26.6%
South Dublin 175,139 52.7% 75,510 16,403 82.2% 17.8%
Tipperary North 51,358 70.2% 27,671 7,815 78.0% 22.0%
Tipperary South 61,518 67.8% 32,246 8,557 79.1% 20.9%
Waterford City 29,290 60.0% 14,113 3,321 81.0% 19.0%
County Waterford 45,687 64.1% 23,301 5,671 80.5% 19.5%
County Westmeath 57,740 60.4% 27,782 6,565 80.9% 19.1%
County Wexford 98,705 58.4% 45,488 11,790 79.5% 20.5%
County Wicklow 87,947 60.8% 41,072 12,076 77.3% 22.7%
Total 3,041,688 59.9% 1,427,520 375,695 79.2% 20.8%

Aftermath

Main article: Irish nationality law

The amendment was signed into law on 24 June 2004, after the referendum result had been certified by the High Court. On 29 September the government published a bill to amend nationality law within the scope of the revised constitutional parameters.[14][15] This bill was signed into law on 15 December 2004 as the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 2004.[16]

In December 2004, The Master of Ireland's National Maternity Hospital Dr Declan Keane told irishhealth.com that prior to the referendum, 16% of the deliveries at the hospital were to non-EU women and five per cent were to women from other EU countries. He said that since the referendum, this figure had been reversed, with 16% of births now accounted for by mothers from other EU countries and five per cent to mothers from outside the EU.[17]

See also

References

  1. ^ Book (eISB), electronic Irish Statute. "electronic Irish Statute Book (eISB)". www.irishstatutebook.ie. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
  2. ^ Kennedy, Geraldine (15 February 2000). "Suspension of agreement leaves Ahern in constitutional dilemma: the Taoiseach has sound constitutional grounds for concern over the suspension of the Belfast Agreement". The Irish Times.
  3. ^ a b Referendum Commission. "Refcom information booklet on Referendum on Irish Citizenship". Archived from the original on 11 November 2012. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
  4. ^ Article 9.1.2° of the s:Constitution of Ireland.
  5. ^ Keane, Colette (3 September 2003). "Calls for block on pregnant travellers". Irish Examiner. Archived from the original on 16 November 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  6. ^ "40-50% non-EU births for citizenship: McDowell". 22 April 2004. Archived from the original on 16 November 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2020 – via www.rte.ie.
  7. ^ "'Citizenship tourists' a tiny group, statistics indicate". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 13 November 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  8. ^ a b c d Carol, Coulter. "Step-by-step guide to the upcoming citizenship referendum". Referendum 2004. The Irish Times. Retrieved 23 January 2013.
  9. ^ Crowley, Una; Gilmartin, Mary; Kitchin, Rob (March 2006). "Vote Yes for Common Sense Citizenship": Immigration and the Paradoxes at the Heart of Ireland's 'Céad Míle Fáilte'" (PDF). NIRSA Working Paper Series (30): 3. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 October 2013. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
  10. ^ "Citizenship Referendum: Interpretative Declaration by the Irish and British Governments regarding the British Irish Agreement" (PDF). 20 April 2004. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
  11. ^ "Paisley: Referendum shows Agreement can change". BreakingNews.ie. 15 April 2004. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
  12. ^ a b "Referendum Results 1937–2015" (PDF). Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government. 23 August 2016. p. 75. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 December 2017. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
  13. ^ Murphy, Tom (10 June 2004). "91,000 people are eligible to vote". Wicklow People. Archived from the original on 19 October 2018. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
  14. ^ "Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 2004". Bills. Oireachtas. 13 October 2004. Archived from the original on 19 October 2018. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
  15. ^ "Irish Nationality and Citizenship Bill 2004: Second Stage". Dáil Éireann debate. Oireachtas. 27 October 2004. Archived from the original on 20 October 2018. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
  16. ^ "Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 2004". electronic Irish Statute Book. Archived from the original on 20 October 2018. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
  17. ^ "Seven hectic years for Holles St Master". Archived from the original on 16 November 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2020.

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