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15 DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTY OF HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY'S GOVERNMENT)
SECRET
C.P.(49) 127
28TH MAY, 1949
CABINET
COPY NO.
NO.31
2.
IRELAND BILL
Memorandum by the Lord Chancellor, the Home Secretary and the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations
Our colleagues should be aware of the action we propose to take to meet a point raised by Viscount Simon in proceedings on the Ireland Bill in the House of Lords on 26th May.
The proceedings were adjourned in order that Lord Simon's point might be considered, and will be resumed on 30th May.
The effect of the British Nationality Act, 1948, is that a person who on 31st December, 1948, was both a British subject and a citizen of Eire ceased to be a British subject on 1st January, 1949, unless his father was born in the United Kingdom. Such a person, however, may, if a "citizen of Eire", claim under section 2(1) to remain a British subject, on the ground of his associations with the United Kingdom or the Colonies.
3.
We have always held that a person born in Southern Ireland before 6th December, 1922, was not a citizen of Fire on 31st December, 1948, unless -
(a)
he was domiciled in Southern Ireland on
6th December, 1922; or
(1)
he was permanently resident in Southern Ireland on
or after 10th April, 1935; OP
(c) he registered as a citizen of Eire.
Accordingly, we have considered that a person born in Southern Ireland before 6th December, 1922, who was at that date domiciled in Northern Ireland and had thereafter permanently resided in Northern Ireland and was not registered as a citizen of Eire, was not a citizen of Eire on 31st December, 1948, and therefore, under section 12(4) of the British Nationality Act, automatically became a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies on 1st January, 1949, with the result that he had no need to make a claim under section 2(1) as a "citizen of Eiro" in order to remain a British subject.
•
In the House of Lords on Thursday Lord Simon argued, on the strength of an opinion obtained from a member of the staff of the High Commissioner for the Irish Republic, that though a person born in Southern Ireland who had acquired an English or Scottish domicile before 6th December, 1922, was not a citizen of Eiro, a person whose domicile had been in Northern Ireland on 6th December, 1922, was regarded by the Government of the Irish Republic as a citizen of Eire and could not, therefore, have become a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies on 1st January, 1949. The Government of the Irish Republic have been asked whether they agree with this view and they have replied that they do.
5.
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We consider it essential to put beyond question cur view that a person born in Southern Ireland before 6th December, 1922, but domiciled in Northern Ireland on that date, i3s just as
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