Coalition of civil society organisations urges government to halt the proposed amendments to nationality and citizenship bill

Doras, Immigrant Council of Ireland, Irish Council for Civil Liberties, Irish Refugee Council, Migrant Rights Centre Ireland, Nasc, AkiDwA and the Migrant and Refugee Rights Centre issued a joint statement expressing serious concern about bill proposals that will significantly restrict access to Irish citizenship.

According to reports, the proposed legislation would increase the standard residence requirement from 5 to 8 years and introduce language, civics, income and social  conditions, which could exclude people who are already contributing to Irish society. The organisations claim that no rationale, research or evidence has been presented by the department for the proposed changes, and no issues have been identified within the current system, stating that many European countries maintain a 5-year residence requirement.