THE RIGHTS of Irish citizens to live and work in Britain are not legally protected and should be made binding by the British Government, it has been claimed.
Documents released by Theresa May’s government yesterday affirmed Britain’s continued commitment to freedom of movement between Ireland and the UK.
However, Conor McGinn, the Labour MP and chairman of the all-party parliamentary group of the Irish in Britain, is calling on Downing Street to issue new legislation as soon as the House of Commons returns from its summer recess.
Mr McGinn said that new legislation is needed to upgrade the Ireland Act of 1949, due to a legal “anomaly” which means the rights of Irish citizens in Britain aren’t specifically codified in law.
“The repeated assurances given to me and other MPs by the Government on this issue now ring very hollow,” Mr McGinn told The Irish Post.
Conor McGinn MP has expressed concern over the "anomaly".“This anomaly needs to be resolved through specific and swift legislation – separate from Brexit negotiations and processes – and I will be calling for this when Parliament returns.”
The St Helens North MP continued: “The Irish community in Britain will be shocked and worried by this revelation.
"Hundreds of thousands of older Irish people have lived in Britain for decades.
“This is their home and where they have worked, raised families and made huge contributions to their communities. This news will cause them a great deal of anxiety.”
Mr McGinn was speaking after a legal expert branded the controversial 1949 Ireland Act – which describes Irish people in the UK as ‘non-foreign’ – as a “dead letter”.
Bernard Ryan, professor of migration law at the University of Leicester, said the Act “in no sense” provides detailed rights for Irish citizens.
“There is no express provision in British immigration law to the effect that Irish citizens as a class have the right to enter and reside in the UK without immigration permission,” he told The Times.
Professor Ryan added that it is “unlikely” that courts in Britain would accept that the Act exempts all Irish citizens from immigration checks reserved for other EU citizens.
He said that the rights of Irish people to work, study, access social welfare and the NHS “must therefore be considered unsecured, as they are contingent on a person’s having right of residence”.
“A full legal resolution will require legislation to clearly define the immigration position of Irish citizens."
Yesterday’s position papers revealed that the British Government will continue to support the Common Travel Area between Ireland and Britain so that “UK and Irish citizens will continue to be able to travel, live, work and study across both countries”.
The documents also revealed that Britain will not seek to impose a so-called ‘hard border’ between Ireland and the North, maintaining ‘seamless’ customs checks post-Brexit.
British military checkpoints along the Irish border were dismantled following the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 – a deal the Irish Government have expressed concern for in the wake of Britain's decision to leave the EU.
However, Theresa May’s Government said it was determined that “nothing agreed as part of the UK’s exit in any way undermines” the peace process in Ireland.
