The application to get Irish passports by British citizens rose by 22% in 2018, foreign officials of Ireland said on Monday, which has doubled the total of annual applications since Britain voted to leave the European Union.
Approximately 100,000 eligible Britons are trying to retain their EU citizenship by obtaining a passport from their closest EU neighbour this year. The number was 81,000 last year and 46,000 in 2015, the year before the Brexit vote led to a sharp rise in applications.
A person who is born in the Irish Republic or Northern Ireland, or with an Irish parent or grandparent, will be entitled to an Irish passport – a total of about 6 million British citizens. They are eligible to hold dual citizenship.
Ireland province is part of the United Kingdom so the registrations for Irish passports in Northern Ireland, whose citizens can hold both an Irish and British passport rose by 2% in the year to the end of December.
There was an election to leave or stay with the European Union in United Kingdom in a referendum in June 2016 and the British citizens voted to leave EU and is expected to do so by March 2019.
> Shiuly Rina
The Number of Seeking Irish Passports by Britons Rises ahead of Brexit
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