As restrictions continue to mount for Brits travelling to Europe post-Brexit, perhaps the least surprising news was that last year saw a record number of UK citizens applying for Irish citizenship.
According to a Home Office report, shared with the Financial Times, 2024 saw a 15 per cent increase in citizenship applications, as 23,456 Brits decided to become Irish. This was the highest figure since records began in 2013, surpassing the previous annual peak in 2019, the year before the UK officially left the European bloc.
The most popular route for Brits to attain Irish citizenship – and, perhaps more crucially, the passport that goes with it – is through the Foreign Births Register, which allows UK citizens with at least one Irish grandparent to apply.
It has been estimated that some 6 million Brits have at least one Irish grandparent and so could claim an Irish passport – something that would give an Irish government already crumbling under a chronic housing crisis some rather sleepless nights.
Obviously that is never going to happen. But it’s a reminder that for all the periodic squabbles that erupt between Ireland and the UK (well, let’s be honest, the English), which were seen most vividly during the immensely fraught Brexit negotiations, the ties that bind the two islands are inextricably woven.
Immigration experts on both sides of the Irish sea agree that there are several factors behind this increase in demand for Irish citizenship.
Chief among them seems to be the gloomy outlook for the British economy, where pessimism rules and the prospect of even more tax hikes and welfare cuts under Rachel Reeves has left many feeling the UK is longer a viable option.
Also crucial to the rise in numbers, according to Reza Nezam, an immigration lawyer with RNL Law, which specialises in Foreign Birth Registration applications, is the sense of post-Brexit gloom felt by many: ‘The questionable political landscape is not only causing, but accelerating, the number of people looking for a Plan B. We expect that the numbers are going to rise as the UK economy continues to be unattractive for the younger generations and for those who are approaching retirement and are worried about the rise of super taxes.’
But Irish people worried that another horde of Sassenachs may soon arrive on their shores need not fret too much.
After all, the Irish economy is no longer as attractive as it was a few years ago. Artificially buoyed up by the billons paid in taxes by American Pharma and Big Tech companies which established Ireland as their European headquarters, the economy looked rosy – but extremely fragile. That fragility is now becoming woefully exposed in the Trump era and his threats to impose swingeing taxes and tariffs on US companies which use Ireland as a tax haven.
The fact that this week saw TikTok make 300 employees redundant in their Dublin HQ is seen by many as a grim foretaste of what may become a catastrophic trend.
And with the Irish housing crisis reaching record levels, British newcomers may simply find it virtually impossible to find anywhere to live. Although, if more foreign companies close, and that results in more foreign workers leaving the country, that may free up some much needed housing stock.
While younger people are more likely to take their chances in Ireland, the likelihood is that most of the older generation are simply using citizenship and the accompanying passport as a convenient backdoor into the EU.
In January, the Spanish introduced their now infamous 100 per cent ‘super tax’ on non-EU citizens buying homes in an effort to free up housing stock, and this had a serious knock-on effect for UK citizens looking to buy a holiday or retirement home. Portugal is set to follow and other EU countries are considering similar plans. Having an EU passport conveniently circumvents that new ruling.
There are also further restrictions in place on British passport holders travelling through the EU. Again, an Irish passport is a handy way out of all that bureaucracy.
Interestingly, the other country which has seen large spike in applications for Irish citizenship is the United States. One director of the Immigration Advice Service in Ireland commented that: ‘Americans are increasingly exploring citizenship links with Ireland because they are growing increasingly uncertain of how life will look under President Trump. More people are considering having an option in case they need to leave the US quickly and settle elsewhere.’
It is, of course, no coincidence that the UK and US send plenty of tourists to Ireland and the country remains a popular holiday destination. But Irish and British tourists who are considering a more long-term relocation would do well to remember an old phrase: ‘Ireland, a nice place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there.’ They should be careful what they wish for.
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