‘’The Republic… cherishes all the children of the nation equally, and oblivious of the differences carefully fostered by an alien Government, which have divided a minority from the majority in the past.’’ – The Proclamation of Independence, 1916
#BornHereBelongHere is a Labour Youth Initiative looking to reintroduce Birthright Citizenship to Ireland
In 2004, the people of Ireland made a decision; based on a campaign filled with xenophobic lies and misinformation, the electorate of Ireland voted to remove birthright citizenship with the 27th ammendment. Hoaxes of birth tourism pushed by right wing groups fired up the populace and that disinformation campaign has robbed thousands of Irish people their citizenship. Left wing groups and Human rights campaigners opposed the 27th amendment from the beginning, but sadly their efforts failed to stop the passing of the amendment. In the most extreme cases, this has meant children who have lived their entire life in Ireland, and consider nowhere but Ireland home, have been faced with deportation to foreign lands.
In the years that followed there’s been a massive shift in public perception. Since then polls have consistently shown a change in the air and it is clear that a majority of Irish people support the reintroduction of birthright citizenship. Spurred on by stories like that of Eric Zhi Ying Mei Xue, and the inhumane policy was shown in all its horror, polls now show that over 70% of people support its reintroduction. The question you may be asking yourself is how this changes, ‘Sure, we voted on a referendum, do we need another referendum to reverse this?’. The short answer is no, a provision in the 27th amendment made it so that our government could legislate to reintroduce birthright citizenship. Currently there is a bill being debated in Seanad Eireann on the issue; The Irish Nationality and Citizenship (Naturalisation of Minors Born in Ireland) Bill Presented by Labour has backing from both sides of the aisle, support from Sinn Féin, the Social Democrats, People Before Profit and a number of government members. However it is still entirely possible the government will reject this bill, to fight for a more equal Ireland, an antiracist Ireland I urge you to push for your representatives in the Dail and Seanad to support this bill.
We recently passed the one year memorial of the tragic death of Cormac Ó Braonáin. He was so incredibly passionate about this campaign and up until his death he had worked tirelessly to help prepare it. Help honor the legacy of Cormac by pushing for this bill to be passed and sign our petition to add your name to the thousands of others who have voiced their support: https://www.labour.ie/belonghere/
James O’Harte
Youth Voice 