People who are born in Northern Ireland and possess Irish passports are likely to have more rights post Brexit than those carrying British passport according to legal experts.
Under the recently finalised Irish border deal at least 500,000 out of the total 1.8 million population of the region will continue to be considered as EU citizens despite being born in the UK. Although considered to be foreign passport holders, they will be provided with a set of rights granted to EU citizens including the right to travel, and work in another member state.
Dagmar Schiek, professor of law at Queen’s University Belfast noted that the British residing in Northern Ireland who don’t opt for Irish citizenship would be further worse off post Brexit.
Irish Border Deal Due to the Good Friday agreement
The agreement has its origin in Ireland’s history of conflicts, and it effectively extends the provisions of the Good Friday agreement under which anyone who is born in the region has a birthright to identify themselves as British, Irish or both. These citizens can carry either passport or both.
According to the 2011 census, roughly half of the population identifies as British and a quarter as Irish and another quarter as “Northern Irish” .
The Irish taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, welcomed the deal calling it a” great benefit to the Irish. “ He noted that Irish citizens born in Northern Ireland will now “have more rights than someone born in Sheffield or London.”
The deal ensures that the Irish continue to have legal status in Northern Ireland despite being deemed as being foreign EU citizens in a UK jurisdiction after Brexit. As per the Irish government, the deal will allow the covered citizens to apply for Erasmus university exchange programme, which could be barred for remaining British citizens.
Turkish Cypriots Precedence
Such special status has precedence according to legal experts pointing to a class of citizens in Cyprus.
Nikos Skoutaris, a lecturer in EU law at the University of East Anglia, stated that Turkish Cypriots are considered EU citizens but reside in an area where EU law is not applicable. This however allows them to exercise their EU rights while in rest of EU.
Schiek believes that the Irish deal go further than the one enjoyed by Turkish Cypriots giving Irish citizens’ rights even if they don’t move country. She pointed out that residents living in Northern Ireland will be treated as if they are EU citizens who have moved, since Northern Ireland is another country.
If this occurs , then it is possible that full family reunification rights will be available to Irish citizens allowing them to have spouses or dependents from a third country without any immigration barriers.
This could be challenged according to experts in light of a recent case. Emma DeSouza filed a legal challenge against the Home Office for refusing an application filed by her American husband to live and work in Northern Ireland. She won the case but the Home Office has appealed.
Clear Picture On Rights Only After Final Deal Is Made
The Department for Exiting the EU has stated that further work was being done to clarify the rights of EU citizens in the UK, adding that until the final deal on the UK’s relationship with the EU is done, there would be no clear idea of the kind of rights of British citizens would have in the EU.
It has however confirmed that Irish citizens would have additional rights if they travel to other EU member states but not have “additional rights relating to their lives in the UK”.
