2009 May - The Irish Diaspora

Jus Sanguinis

If you’re Irish descent you should know about Jus Sanguinis…

The Nationality and Citizenship Act allows any person with an Irish grandparent to become an Irish citizen “by registering in the Foreign Births Register at an Irish embassy or consular office, or at the Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin.”

Such an individual may also pass their Irish nationality entitlement to his or her children, even if not choosing to take up citizenship, provided he or she has registered with the Foreign Births Register before the children are born.

In a nutshell if you have one or more Irish grandparents, and havn’t claimed Irish nationality, but want to preserve the option for any of your future offspring, then you should register.

It’s one of those things you don’t tend to think about when you’re younger, but wished you’d known about it often after the opportunity has passed. (Sometimes the arrival of a new child is a surprise!)

Here’s the Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin – the home page has links to Irish embassies and consulates around the world, and here’s the page detailing the documents required etc. It may look a bit long-winded, but not really in the overall scheme of things.

And to finish off, Jus sanguinis is the latin for ‘right of blood’, and is a social policy by which nationality or citizenship is determined not by place of birth, but by having an ancestor who is a national or citizen of the state.

We’d like to see Irish citizenship rules changed, but whilst it is like it is, and if Irish heritage is important to you, don’t let time catch you out.

Irish Descent

We received the following message out of the blue last Thursday, and it prompted me to write to the author as it brought my thoughts back to an age old question ‘if I have a strong sense of my Irishness why can’t it be acknowledged in a more formal way?’

Extracts from the letter we received:

My name is Ryan McNelis and I am an American of Irish descent. I have over 40 million fellow Irish Americans, many of whom share my predicament. You see, I wish to have my birth registered in the Foreign Births Register so that I can become an Irish citizen. While I have no less than 4 (and probably 5) great grandparents who were born in Ireland, I unfortunately have no grandparents born in Ireland and do not qualify under current law.

I urge Ireland to change its citizenship by descent laws to enable people like me to become dual citizens of Ireland. I know many other Irish-Americans lament the fact they are denied the chance to become part of the Irish community.

Reasons to allow us to be citizens:

Allowing us to become dual citizens means we will spend more money in Ireland.

Many of us, including me, would like to consider retiring to Ireland, where we would collect American Social Security payments and serve as a net influx of funds to our new homeland.

There is no burden on Irelands social programs, none of us are seeking Irish welfare.

Most Irish Americans cherish their Irish ancestry, ties to the Church, and fundamental ideals in Republican forms of government, and strongly supported Ireland’s quest for independence, and should be allowed to become part of the Irish community.

Under current law, famous Irish Americans like John F. Kennedy and Edward M. Kennedy would not be eligible for citizenship. These and others have helped shape the world in a positive way – Ireland should embrace them and their Irish American brothers and sisters with open arms.

Americans have a lot of money, and we like to spend a lot of money. We are highly educated and skilled workers, and could help serve the interests of Ireland either in Ireland, or in America. Look at President Obama, without the backing of Irish American voters he would never have won the election. Irish Americans are a powerful constituency in America and empowering them with dual citizenship would give Ireland a stronger voice in America.

If someone has 2 or more Irish born great-grandparents surely they have the same percentage of Irish heritage as someone with 1 irish born grandparent? yet one can only apply for citizenship in the latter case. Why not implement a 2 great grandparent policy? After all, it is the same percentage of Irish heritage as the current implementation of the law allows for.

Please change this law and policy.

Sincerely,
Ryan McNelis

The letter also included observations about nationalities without an Irish connection who are able to apply for citizenship, and how this engendered a feeling of disengagement by Irish Americans who are prevented from doing so. Ryan also applied some mathematical calculations to try and determine a percentage calculation of Irishness based on lines of descendency. I chose to leave this part out as we believe it should be based on the strength of ones sense of their Irish heritage, rather than who was born where and when.

Having received the letter from Ryan I wrote back to him with a few questions:

– Have you written to others.
– Are you aware of any recognition of the points made from the Irish government.
– Where in the US are you based.
– Are you representing yourself as an individual or part of an organisation.

Ryans response:

“Yes, I have been sending this to others, have sent it I think to every member of the Irish Parliament, and have gotten a few replies. I am not a member of any group, just myself, my family, and other similarly situated Irish Americans that would like to have the ability to become citizens.

Greece and Israel allow for citizenship through ancestry without regard to generational time limits, Ireland should do the same. It’d give Ireland a stronger voice in the world and greater access to other markets. It’s good for everyone and Ireland should seriously consider such a change.

I live in Rhode Island, the smallest state in the union, south of Boston, and east of New York City.
The entire greater Boston area is rich in Irish culture, home to the Kennedys, and incorporates Irish names into towns, streets, and sports teams. I am a law student, and will graduate and be admitted to the bar to practice law within one year.

I could polish up a better letter with more insight, but this was sent just to get the basic premise out and talked about. This is an issue I would love to see addressed and resolved. I visited Ireland once and would love to return on an Irish passport next time.”

Some will say nothing new here, its been a topic for discussion over the years, but I think there’s a couple of interesting aspects:

Ryan is a young man, 3rd generation Irish, who feels the drive to get the discussion going again, and

He’s raising this not when Ireland is in the middle of a boom, but in a recession.

My thoughts are along the lines that here we have someone who is future America stating his personal affection for Ireland. Someone who might not be recognised for this in Ireland itself unless he actually stands up and says so. Someone who still feels the Irish influences on his life probably stemming back to the late 1800s early 1900s. On top of that, given that Ireland is currently in economic difficulty, there is no apparent desire to capitalise on Ireland as a state. The emphasis seems to be more on joint benefit and the possible advantages of allowing dual citizenship for Irish americans.

Putting political agendas to one side, I hope we will see a renewed debate on this one. The Irish Government is currently initiating a global strategy to engage more deeply with the diaspora, and Irish American citizenship will we hope be part of the discussions.

Minister Michael Martin emphasised that the initiative forms part of a wider strategy of deeper Government engagement, and is intended to complement the Ireland-United States Strategic Review launched by the Taoiseach in New York on March 15th earlier this year.

You can get some information about the Global Irish Economic Forum here, and I will write more on ‘Irishness’ in another post.

Right now though let’s dwell on life from Ryans perspective.

Learn to play harp

with Katie McMahon!

If you’re anywhere near Minneapolis and have a passion for harp and voice, and a desire to learn, you’re very much in luck. Former Riverdance singer and harpist Katie McMahon is teaching beginning and intermediate harp & voice and you can get all the details at her new website here.

Harp: Katie teaches the classical technique she studied from her own wonderful harp teacher Denise Kelly (Ireland’s National Symphony Orchestra harpist), and special emphasis is placed on technique, music reading skills and musicality. Once you reach a certain proficiency you are encouraged to pursue whatever musical style you wish, whether it be jazz, rock classical, Irish or folk.

Voice: Katie is a classically trained soprano and has also delved into folk and new age. She is open to teaching in many styles and you will also learn about proper breathing technique and interpretation of the lyrics and music.

What can we say, an opportunity to learn from a real star, and we expect to hear the sweet sound of music drifting beautifully over the City of Lakes!

Fastnet Short Film Festival

The first Fastnet Short Film Festival took place in Schull last weekend and has been applauded as a resounding success. Film-makers from around the world submitted their works, and over 80 films were shown during the three-day period.

The festival itself had an impressive list of patrons and this, along with the lead up promotion of the event, encouraged some top quality producers to enter their films. With the picturesque backdrop of Schull you’d be forgiven for likening it to the ‘slightly larger’ event taking place in France at the same time!

In the words of the organisers ‘the aim of the Fastnet Short Film Festival is to bring together established and future film makers and provide a forum to celebrate the short film genre. Our wish is to build this festival into an event recognised by the film industry, and to identify and encourage film makers of the future.’

Well the celebration was an undoubted success, and with the goodwill expressed by many and the enthusiasm and professionalism of the organisers, this is sure to build into an annual affair that can only go from strength to strength.

Although not a competition as such, the judging panel did select films for various categories that were given special recognition. These were:

Best of Festival: ‘An Cosc’ – directed by Vincent Gallagher

Best Drama: ‘Penny’ – directed by Paddy O’Shea

Best Cinematography: ‘Tart’ – directed by Mairtin De Barra

Best Use of Music: ‘Of Best Intentions’ – directed by Brian Durnin

Best Comedy: ‘Hammerhead’ – directed by Sam Donovan

Best Director: ‘Play’ directed by Muriel d’Ansembourg

Best Documentary: ‘The Stolen Generation’ by Kim Houghton and Pól O Conghaile

Best Experimental/Animated Film: ‘Tomato Soup’ by Paul O’ Brien

Best Screenplay: ‘The Escort’ – by Clare Holman

Here’s the official Fastnet Short Film Festival site, and here’s a photo taken from the closing ceremony acknowledging the efforts of the organising committee: