Law Centre (NI) Briefing
July 2007

Background

1. Prior to 31 December 2004 children born in the ROI or NI were Irish citizens by birth.
2. While the number of children in this position is finite, there are still many children who were born here prior to 2005.
3. These children have full status within the UK comparable to any other Irish citizen EEA national and as such are fully entitled to remain in the UK with full EEA rights, as do many of their non-national family members.
4. When the South threatened removal of the parents of these children, there was a huge campaign against it which led to the Department of Justice, ultimately, announcing an amnesty. There has been no such approach taken in Northern Ireland or the UK by the Government.

Issues

1. How are the rights of the parents upheld? The Republic of Ireland has since 2005 given status to the parents following the successful campaign which led to the amnesty.
2. The rights of these children are not being upheld.  We are aware of children removed from the UK despite their being Irish citizens due to their birth in Northern Ireland. This removal is as part of a family unit which highlights the fact that the rights of these children and their families are denied/unrecognised.
3. The current family removal policy is UK-wide and does not recognise specific regional issues such as that of Irish citizen children of non-national parents and denies parents’ rights to access legal representation prior to being removed out of NI/UK so that their EEA and Article 8 ECHR rights can be considered while still in Northern Ireland.
4. When considering Article 8 ECHR family life applications, the relevant body must carry out a balancing exercise. We would argue that the rights of the EEA citizen (IBC) should weigh in favour of the non-national parent.
5. Scottish Parliament has entered into positive negotiations with the Foreign Office to try and create a policy which is specific to Scotland.

Goals

1. That the rights of these children as Irish and EEA citizens and the rights of their non-national family members are recognised, respected and enforced.
2. That the family removals policy be amended to do the above.
3. Questions asked in both Parliament and the NI Assembly as to how many and why, Irish citizens by birth are being removed from the UK with their parents who are being denied access to legal representation.
4. Raise issue that children who are often unable to fully understand their rights are being targeted by the UK Government.
5. Raise prospect/advance argument that children born in Northern Ireland should have their rights as EEA citizens recognised.
6. The parents and family of such children should be entitled to remain in Northern Ireland until the child reaches adulthood and have access to employment to ensure they can support the child and contribute to the economy.

Questions

1. How many Irish born children have been removed from Northern Ireland / UK?
2. Why are Irish citizens, by birth, being removed from the UK?
3. Why are these children, along with their parents, being denied access to independent legal representation prior to removal?
4. What measures are in place to identify Irish Citizen Children of non national parents prior to their removal from Northern Ireland and the UK?