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British-Irish deal to guarantee rights of citizens after Brexit UK and Ireland sign deal to guarantee rights of citizens after Brexit
(about 5 hours later)
The rights of Irish people in the UK and British citizens in Ireland are to be guaranteed in a Brexit side deal to be signed by the countries’ two governments. The government has signed a Brexit side-deal with Ireland to guarantee Irish and British citizens retain special rights in each others countries in the event of no deal.
Sources say the memorandum of understanding will put the rights already conferred on citizens of both nations under the common travel area (CTA) on to a more secure footing. The Cabinet Office minister, David Lidington, and Ireland’s deputy prime minister, Simon Coveney, said the deal reflected two years of work to ensure the existing so-called common travel area (CTA) and associated bilateral agreements were secured whatever the outcome of Brexit negotiations.
The deal will be signed by David Lidington, the Cabinet Office minister, and Ireland’s deputy prime minister, Simon Coveney, in a meeting in London on Wednesday afternoon before the British-Irish intergovernmental conference. “Our message to Irish citizens in the UK is that your rights will not change. You will still be able to move freely between Ireland, the UK and the islands,” said Lidington.
The conference was organised by the two governments after the killing of the journalist Lyra McKee by dissident Irish terrorists as part of a drive to restore power-sharing in Northern Ireland. “You will still be able to work, study, draw your pension and access social security and public services in the UK. Above all, you will be welcome. And we welcome the similar commitment the government of Ireland makes to British citizens in Ireland.”
But the deal is the result of two years of work to ensure the rights both have under the CTA agreements and under EU freedom of movement are protected after Brexit. The agreement is detailed in a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed before a meeting of the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference on Wednesday afternoon.
It will benefit the estimated 300,000 Britons living in Ireland and about 350,000 Irish people in the UK. Lidington said the deal reflected the “long-standing, cherished set of arrangements” that already existed.
Irish people have more rights than other EU citizens in Britain because of the historical ties between the two countries, such as the right to vote and the right to stand for public office, including Westminster. These rights are reciprocated for British people settled in Ireland. It is understood the MoU is an undertaking by both side to take the “necessary legal and administrative steps” to ensure the status quo for all travel, employment and social security rights.
The British and Irish governments had already stated that citizens who had settled in one another’s countries would be treated differently to other EU citizens. Britain stated explicitly, for instance, that the Irish did not have to apply for “settled status” in the UK, something citizens from the rest of the EU are required to do. It confirms Irish nationals will continue to be able to vote in all elections in the UK and stand for public office, unlike other EU citizens who cannot vote in general elections.
Sources have confirmed that Wednesday’s deal will mean arrangements to ensure reciprocal access to social insurance, child benefit and pensions continues, with a further deal promised on access to education and healthcare. The voting arrangement is reciprocated in Ireland for British nationals settled in the country.
It has been widely assumed that this comes from the special historical links between the two countries and specifically the 1949 Ireland Act, which officially ended the country’s status as a British dominion, and a further series of immigration laws and bilateral deals. In education, it means there will be reciprocal access to education at all levels with home tuition fee loans and maintenance support for students going to university in each state.
Bernard Ryan, professor of migration law at Leicester University, raised concerns as far back as 2016 arguing bilateral statements might not have much legal value. And in social security it means that citizens can work in either country and have access to social security benefits such as pensions no matter which country they live in or retire in.
The CTA has its roots in the deal agreed after Ireland gained independence from the UK in the 1920s and was further cemented through a series of laws including the Ireland Act of 1949 which stated Ireland “is not a foreign country for the purposes of any law in force in any part of the United Kingdom”. Coveney said the deal was an “important moment” between the two countries.
Further legislation gave the Irish the right to vote in all British elections, something that eludes other EU citizens, with reciprocal rights for Britons in Ireland. “The CTA has provided rights and privileges to Irish and British citizens for nearly a century. However, it has not before been formalised in this way,” he said.
However legal experts raised concerns that the full range of employment and social rights were not guaranteed under law and were merely codified in a series of bilateral declarations. Bill Foster, the managing director of Fragomen, an immigration law firm, said the deal was an “incredibly welcome development” as it created a clear foundation to guarantee the rights of British and Irish nationals in each other’s country, which until now have been accepted based on historical understanding but not always clear in law”.
Ireland The agreement will benefit the estimated 300,000 Britons living in Ireland and about 350,000 Irish people in the UK.
Bernard Ryan, professor of migration law at Leicester University, raised concerns as far back as 2016, arguing that bilateral statements might not have much legal value.
An international treaty on mutual rights would be the best outcome, he said, but added: “A public MoU is worthwhile too, because it gives transparency and political guarantees”.
The CTA has its roots in the deal agreed after Ireland gained independence from the UK in the 1920s and was further cemented through a series of laws including the Ireland Act 1949, which states Ireland “is not a foreign country for the purposes of any law in force in any part of the United Kingdom”.
BrexitBrexit
Ireland
Foreign policyForeign policy
EuropeEurope
European UnionEuropean Union
David Lidington
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