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Re: I think Adams is an Irish citizen, and not a British one. Stephen Send a noteboard - 23/01/2011 11:53:12 PM
At least, his wikipedia article says "Nationality: Irish". I certainly can't see him voluntarily taking British citizenship. To him we are the enemy. He doesn't take his seat in Parliament because he won't swear allegiance to the Queen.

Yes, I would say itt's reasonably safe to say he's never claimed to be British.
Anyway, to understand the position you have to understand two things about the UK. The first is that we are not one of those nutty countries that gets all paranoid about people having more than one nationality. If you are British, we look after you, and we don't have a problem if another country also wants to look after you.

The second is that when it comes to Irish independence, we are like the pathetic ex-husband making doe eyes at his ex-wife hoping she'll come back to him. For this reason, we give Irish citizens all the same rights as British citizens. Even before we joined the EU, an Irishman could move to London any time he wanted without showing a passport, and immediately register to vote or even stand for Parliament. Not even when they left the Commonwealth and became a Republic did we turn against them.

Yes. My grandfather from rural west Ireland supervised the construction of RAF bases in England in the forties. I guess it helped that he was a qualified engineer.
(Incidentally, we also give the right to vote and stand for Parliament to Commonwealth citizens who live here legally, which is why Rebekah gets to vote. But Commonwealth citizens don't have a right of residence. So in theory we could have a Prime Minister who has to be deported because his visa expires :P. EU citizens, by contrast, get to live here but not to vote in Parliamentary elections, only local and EU ones. And to devolved Parliaments, if they live in a devolved country. So between her two passports Rebekah gets all the civil rights of a British citizen, even though she isn't one.)

It's a reasonable system if you are from one of the applicable countries. I can get a British passport if I ever wish to do so, but I think my Irish one gives me enough benefits as it is.
"I mean, if everyone had a soul, there would be no contrast by which we could appreciate it. For giving us this perspective, we thank you." - Nate
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So the Irish government has basically imploded. - 23/01/2011 04:47:10 PM 1817 Views
I am now confused - 23/01/2011 05:34:31 PM 1174 Views
You won't be the only person - 23/01/2011 06:21:23 PM 1070 Views
You do realize Britain is pretty much the envy of the Western world at the moment? - 23/01/2011 06:27:05 PM 1212 Views
Re: You do realize Britain is pretty much the envy of the Western world at the moment? - 23/01/2011 06:34:47 PM 1152 Views
Those protests were only violent by British standards. - 23/01/2011 11:54:15 PM 1247 Views
Really? - 24/01/2011 12:03:38 AM 1043 Views
But... - 24/01/2011 07:28:17 PM 1095 Views
Re: But... - 24/01/2011 07:30:39 PM 1344 Views
What protests? - 24/01/2011 07:26:49 PM 1177 Views
Re: What protests? - 24/01/2011 07:28:40 PM 1037 Views
Re: What protests? - 25/01/2011 09:23:17 AM 1172 Views
There's a new objection - 25/01/2011 11:38:25 AM 1086 Views
I didn't object... - 25/01/2011 11:47:11 AM 982 Views
Re: I didn't object... - 25/01/2011 11:49:36 AM 978 Views
If you look at the bottom of that list... - 25/01/2011 11:58:24 AM 1030 Views
Should I start chiming in on Norwegian politics now that I'm here...? - 24/01/2011 12:42:03 AM 1075 Views
Why not? - 24/01/2011 08:49:07 AM 1127 Views
'Cos I doubt you'll like what I have to say, for one thing. - 26/01/2011 01:55:13 AM 1159 Views
Re: 'Cos I doubt you'll like what I have to say, for one thing. - 26/01/2011 08:42:04 AM 1182 Views
I misconstrued your sarcasm, sorry. - 26/01/2011 10:23:40 AM 1324 Views
That's been a while coming, hasn't it? Cowen seems to be losing it. - 23/01/2011 05:48:30 PM 1112 Views
Certainly. he's been on dodgy ground for a couple months. - 23/01/2011 06:27:27 PM 1175 Views
Re: Certainly. he's been on dodgy ground for a couple months. - 23/01/2011 06:33:26 PM 1113 Views
Re: Certainly. he's been on dodgy ground for a couple months. - 23/01/2011 07:19:03 PM 1243 Views
Re: Certainly. he's been on dodgy ground for a couple months. - 23/01/2011 07:57:05 PM 1066 Views
Re: Certainly. he's been on dodgy ground for a couple months. - 23/01/2011 09:29:03 PM 1182 Views
Re: Certainly. he's been on dodgy ground for a couple months. - 23/01/2011 09:46:20 PM 1138 Views
I think Adams is an Irish citizen, and not a British one. - 23/01/2011 11:45:34 PM 1094 Views
Re: I think Adams is an Irish citizen, and not a British one. - 23/01/2011 11:53:12 PM 1090 Views
The part that I find strange is... - 23/01/2011 11:58:27 PM 1062 Views
Re: Certainly. he's been on dodgy ground for a couple months. - 23/01/2011 11:45:39 PM 968 Views
I found out something else today which makes it even better. - 24/01/2011 10:37:45 PM 1296 Views
I was reading your post and going "what about the Chiltern Hundreds"? - 24/01/2011 10:44:32 PM 1078 Views
Today's news: it got better again! - 26/01/2011 07:51:51 PM 1152 Views
Oh, alternatively we could elevate him to the House of Lords. - 26/01/2011 11:08:44 PM 1114 Views
Awesome idea. Something like "Baron Adams of Londonderry", I'm thinking. *NM* - 27/01/2011 07:54:26 PM 541 Views
We made his arch-rival a Lord, after all, so it would only be fair. - 28/01/2011 08:26:15 AM 1055 Views
"This is the voice of a life peer" - 28/01/2011 02:18:04 PM 1180 Views
Here you go - 25/01/2011 12:55:33 PM 1211 Views
That's the site I found too. - 25/01/2011 01:25:56 PM 1041 Views
Right. - 25/01/2011 01:42:49 PM 1296 Views
well, the only interesting thing in swedish politics is a wikileaks document and the reactions... - 23/01/2011 06:21:00 PM 1146 Views
That's interesting - 23/01/2011 06:32:05 PM 1116 Views
What is inappropriate about trying to keep out barbaric unskilled people? - 23/01/2011 10:59:53 PM 1123 Views
... the fact that they are asylum seekers, and their skill certainly shouldn't matter in that case. - 24/01/2011 07:08:14 PM 992 Views
Schweden schafft sich ab, eh? - 24/01/2011 07:31:33 PM 1269 Views
Not to mention... - 26/01/2011 07:55:26 PM 982 Views
- 26/01/2011 07:46:19 PM 1097 Views
Hopefully they'll stop using Irish officially as a way to cut down on unnecessary costs. - 23/01/2011 10:57:08 PM 1059 Views
I'd support that - 23/01/2011 11:26:20 PM 1120 Views
Ironically, if you de-officialised Irish you could get EU money to help preserve it. - 23/01/2011 11:48:14 PM 1026 Views
I never realised that - 23/01/2011 11:54:43 PM 1060 Views
But why, why? - 24/01/2011 08:35:43 PM 1008 Views
Because it's the only thing justifying their insistence they're not British? - 24/01/2011 10:03:54 PM 1082 Views
But all language learning should be purely voluntary (after what parents teach their children). - 25/01/2011 03:05:28 AM 1042 Views
What, so you don't think students in high school should be taught foreign languages? - 25/01/2011 06:34:21 PM 1071 Views
Irish is the mother tongue of about 7,000-15,000 people at most. - 26/01/2011 05:04:00 AM 1104 Views
Wikipedia says it's more like 40k-80k. - 26/01/2011 06:41:41 PM 1471 Views
Inflated statistics from what I've read. - 26/01/2011 09:45:51 PM 1012 Views
They might be, indeed. - 27/01/2011 01:08:09 PM 1264 Views
What the hell happened to the Celtic Tiger Country? *NM* - 24/01/2011 05:47:12 AM 612 Views
Thrown away on bling and tat, unfortunately. - 24/01/2011 01:01:27 PM 994 Views

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