Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As a co-guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement, the Government is determined that all aspects of the Agreement will be fully respected through the process of the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union and thereafter. Our priority is to ensure that the Good Friday Agreement and the overall balance of the settlement is not in any way disturbed by the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union. All provisions of the Agreement must be respected, including the fundamental provisions on citizenship and identity.

Under Irish citizenship law, the vast majority of people born on the island of Ireland, including those born in Northern Ireland, are entitled to Irish citizenship. The Good Friday Agreement further provides that the people of Northern Ireland have the right to identify themselves and be accepted as Irish or British, or both, and that the right to hold both British and Irish citizenship would not in any way be affected by any future change in the constitutional status of Northern Ireland. It is important to state this provision is and will remain unaffected by the UK decision to leave the European Union. Persons who are citizens of Ireland, and therefore also EU citizens, will retain their right to EU citizenship after Brexit and the entitlements that flow from this under EU law.

In the forthcoming EU-UK negotiations, the Government will work to ensure that the continuing EU citizenship of Irish citizens in Northern Ireland can be sustained in a way that is consistent with their unique situation. In this regard, we should be clear that the UK Government also has a major role and responsibility in upholding the letter and spirit of the Good Friday Agreement, regardless of the United Kingdom's status within the European Union. The Government has made this point to the UK Government on a number of occasions and will continue to do so.

As part of my engagement with the Secretary of State and with each of the parties in the discussions in recent weeks, I have strongly emphasised the critical importance of forming a new Executive so that Northern Ireland's interests can be effectively represented as part of the process of the EU-UK negotiations that are about to commence. I very much hope that the necessary agreement between the parties will be reached on the formation of the Executive as soon as possible so that it can directly represent the interests of the people of Northern Ireland in these negotiations, which are of major significance.

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