Irish citizenship applications from Britons increases by 1,200 per cent since Brexit
Image: Unsplash
Irish citizenship applications from Britons increases by 1,200 per cent since Brexit
Words: Ellen Kenny
Well, well, well- look who’s come crawling back.
Newly released data from the Department of Justice show that more and more British people are applying for Irish citizenship. Why could this be? Is it our accents? Our music? Our affinity for hotels?
In 2015, just 54 Britons applied for Irish citizenship, and successful applicants from Britain accounted for 0.4 per cent of the 13,543 applications.
In 2016, the number of applicants nearly doubled to 98. This then increased to 525 in 2017 and 685 in 2018. While there was a slight dip in 2019 with 664 applicants, it rose again to 945 in 2020.
In 2021, there were 1,194 applications for Irish citizenship from Britain, now accounting for 12 per cent of applications worldwide.
What could have happened between 2015 and 2016 to cause such an increase? Why are Brits so eager to claim this country as their own? I mean, they already claimed our land before but they definitely weren’t as nice about it the last time.
The cause is, of course, Brexit. Just because it’s not in the news everyday anymore doesn’t mean it’s still not a pain in the arse.
Just over half of Britons voted for Brexit, and many people in that half, deceived by misinformation and a big red bus, now deeply regret their choice. The majority of British people now likely wish that they still had the benefits of being members of the EU.
When there’s little-to-no chance of Britain rejoining, many are now getting desperate. So desperate, in fact, that they’re becoming Irish.
We’ll just have to see how these poor victims fare escaping the woes of Brexit. Funny, I always thought the British hated refugees.
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