New Citizenship Exams Proposed

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New Citizenship Exams Proposed

June 28, 2007

By Paddy Clancy

THE government is considering introducing exams in English for immigrants applying for Irish citizenship.

Tests of applicants’ proficiency in Irish as part of a citizenship application process are also likely, although they will only be included as an option and will not be compulsory.

New Justice Minister Brian Lenihan gave a hint of tough new measures to regulate citizenship this week when he spoke of the necessity to ensure that racial tension, which is not yet an issue, would not become a problem in an economic downturn.

He said immigration is a big issue because of rapid growth in the numbers of new arrivals in the past 10 years. “Clearly I have to carry the big stick here,” he said.

His younger brother Conor, a junior minister, had the task of smoothing the way for integration of new arrivals. But the justice portfolio, a Cabinet position, included responsibility for citizenship.

Brian Lenihan said, “We need to look at the need for linguistic competence to be there before we grant citizenship, in English and Irish as well if people want to have that kind of qualification, although I wouldn’t be introducing any note on compulsion there.”

He told Sunday Independent editor Aengus Fanning in a wide-ranging interview that there are unacceptable delays in the citizenship process. Persons who sought Irish citizenship after a reasonable period of residency should be welcomed.

“But,” he added, “I think we should ensure that they’re fully signed up to a core concept of Irishness and linguistic competency, and that’s something I have already asked my officials to look at.”

Lenihan acknowledged that there is a growing number of immigrants and predicted the numbers would become even greater.

“The economy is going to grow at a rate that our domestic population will not be able to meet all the economic opportunities, so I think we will continue to see migration and the whole challenge of integration then becomes very, very important,” he said.

“We haven’t had any great racial tension. We have specific problem areas but we haven’t had widespread problems. The mood of economic confidence would change very, very quickly were there any economic downswing.”

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