This paper relates to the particular difficulties which have arisen in Ireland with regard to asylum-seekers who have Irish-born children. Irish Constitutional law and Irish legislation dictates that children born in Ireland are to be granted Irish citizenship. Until recently, the effect of this legislation had been interpreted in light of the Constitutional guarantee regarding the protection of the family unit with the result that the non-EU national parents and families of children born in Ireland generally qualified for Irish residency. However, a recent decision of the High Court, which emphasised the need to protect the 'integrity' of the Irish asylum system, held that the immigrant parents of Irish-born children were not entitled to remain in the State. This paper contends that the Irish High Court not only circumscribed the rights of Irish-born children whose parents are non-EU nationals, it (re)inforced the notion that the effective protection and implementation of the citizen rights of Irish-born children will depend on the nationality of their parents, a notion which runs contrary to the non-discrimination provisions of national and international law regarding the rights of the child and the protection to be accorded to the family unit. © Oxford University Press 2003. All rights reserved.

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Eurasia Western Europe refugee legal system Europe citizenship asylum seeker Ireland