THE validity of Tommy Robinson’s Irish passport has been called into question. The prominent far-right agitator, real name Stephen Christopher Yaxley-Lennon is believed to qualify for Irish citizenship through his mother, an Irish woman who settled in Luton.
But questions have now been raised by Irish parliamentarians over the validity of his passport. Recent investigations have uncovered the fact that when detained by Canadian immigration authorities, on his landing card Robinson gave Ireland as his place of birth.
If this is also what appears on his passport, that could invalidate the document. Robinson was born in Luton in 1982.
It’s not clear why Robinson would have entered his birthplace falsely. He would qualify quite legitimately for an Irish passport as long as he could provide documentation that his mother was born anywhere on the island of Ireland.
Charlie Flanagan TD (Laois Offaly), Fine Gael spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, European Affairs and Defence , said that any questions over the integrity of the Irish passport system had to be addressed with a degree of urgency. “Eligibility for Irish citizenship and grounds for holding an Irish passport are clearly defined in law. Any alleged violation must not only be taken seriously but acted upon and subject to formal investigation by the appropriate authorities,” Deputy Flanagan said, reports the Guardian.
Robinson has been accused of helping to foment the recent anti-immigration riots in England. He was accused of stoking tensions from afar and appeared to defend the unrest on social media while on holiday in Cyprus. He regularly posted about riots from the comfort of an Ayia Napa hotel, according to The Mirror.
It is presumed that Robinson uses an Irish passport as it eases travel throughout the EU.
