Results 17,901-17,920 of 18,761 for speaker:Michael McDowell

Seanad: Twenty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (5 May 2004)

Michael McDowell: The phrase is not of 2000 vintage, going back to 1946 at the very least. It goes back to the basic point we discussed at the beginning of today's proceedings. One is not automatically an Irish citizen if one is born in Ireland. One is automatically entitled to Irish citizenship if born in the island of Ireland. The child born to a French couple in Ireland this week is not automatically an...

Seanad: Twenty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (5 May 2004)

Michael McDowell: I agree. Senator Mansergh is right to remind me that the debate might convey I was suggesting Unionists cannot be Irish citizens. One can be a Unionist and an Irish citizen.

Seanad: Twenty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (5 May 2004)

Michael McDowell: No, it is not tetchiness at all. I am now realising that I have been using the phrase "Unionist " too broadly. What I was trying to get at was somebody who was so "Unionist", they would have nothing to do with Irish citizenship, on ideological grounds, and who would never do what Senator Mansergh referred to. Tarraingíodh siar an leasú faoi chead.

Seanad: Twenty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (5 May 2004)

Michael McDowell: This is a somewhat theological point and I am loath to get into a theological battle at this hour of the evening. However, while not speaking on the advice of the Attorney General, it is my view that Article 46 of the Constitution provides that the method of amending it is by means of a Bill that is enacted by the Oireachtas. Subject to being persuaded otherwise, it is my view that the...

Seanad: Child Care Services. (5 May 2004)

Michael McDowell: I thank Senator Scanlon for raising this matter. The equal opportunities child care programme 2000-06, a seven year inclusive programme, facilitates the further development and expansion of child care facilities to assist people in reconciling their child care needs with participation in employment, training and education. The programme makes capital grant assistance available to...

Seanad: Security Measures at Farmleigh. (5 May 2004)

Michael McDowell: I welcome the opportunity to respond to the Senator on behalf of my colleague, the Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Deputy Parlon. As Senator Terry stated, additional razor wire was installed on the perimeter wall of Farmleigh House as a temporary measure in response to the security arrangements surrounding the EU accession event taking place there on 1 May. The Senator will be...

Seanad: Twenty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (5 May 2004)

Michael McDowell: This referendum, if passed, will not deprive anybody of citizenship who is an Irish citizen. Therefore, to take the Senator's example of two Albanians who have had a child in Ireland who is now an Irish citizen, as matters stand their presence in Ireland falls to be decided in accordance with the principles laid down in the L and O case. Having an Irish citizen child is not an absolute...

Seanad: Twenty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (5 May 2004)

Michael McDowell: Senator Terry and Senator Tuffy raised the instance of a family with one child who is an Irish citizen and another who is not. However, that instance occurs as matters stand. There are thousands of families in Ireland where one of the older children is not an Irish citizen while the youngest is a citizen. It does not seem to me to complicate life for those parents. A Nigerian family with one...

Seanad: Twenty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (5 May 2004)

Michael McDowell: It is amusing that this document, which has been the subject of passionate debate, has never been put in the public domain. This demonstrates an uncharacteristic shyness on the part of the Labour Party.

Seanad: Twenty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (5 May 2004)

Michael McDowell: I must correct my previous statement. I am told that Deputy Quinn read large chunks of the letter into the record on Committee Stage of the Bill in the Dáil. I do not know which chunks he read. Tarraingíodh siar an leasú faoi chead.

Seanad: Twenty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (5 May 2004)

Michael McDowell: It could happen.

Seanad: Twenty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (5 May 2004)

Michael McDowell: This issue had already been anticipated by the ingenuity of the Chief Parliamentary Counsel. If one considers the theme of the Government's proposed legislation, it proposes to extend citizenship by statute to a person born on the island of Ireland if the person was born to parents, one of whom was deceased at the time of the person's birth, or if the deceased person was, immediately before...

Seanad: Twenty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (5 May 2004)

Michael McDowell: That is correct. The minimum guarantee is that the group of people referred to will be guaranteed citizenship. There is the possibility of a mother being kept alive on a machine, for example, though that would be rare. It is much more likely that an Irish father would predecease the child. In those circumstances one would encounter all sorts of complications. I do not want to get into the...

Seanad: Twenty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (5 May 2004)

Michael McDowell: In so far as this new law permits the Oireachtas to determine the circumstances in which people born north and south of the Border shall obtain Irish citizenship, it would be unconstitutional to avail of this referendum to distinguish between the people of Northern Ireland, as defined in the British-Irish Agreement, and the people of the South with regard to their entitlement. The clear...

Seanad: Twenty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (5 May 2004)

Michael McDowell: No.

Seanad: Twenty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (5 May 2004)

Michael McDowell: I did not say that about parties.

Seanad: Twenty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (5 May 2004)

Michael McDowell: I am grateful to the Senator for the points she has made. I am not in the slightest bit tetchy about this subject. When I went home that evening and saw the reaction to what I said, it suddenly occurred to me that what I actually said could have been reasonably interpreted as applying to the SDLP, but it was not my view at the time. I was thinking about the arguments, which were then being...

Seanad: Twenty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (5 May 2004)

Michael McDowell: If I had run with that amendment, the aeroplane would never have lifted off the runway.

Seanad: Twenty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (5 May 2004)

Michael McDowell: The child never had a constitutional right until 1999 in those circumstances. It was a statutory right. The world went on very well without a constitutional right until 1999. The roof will not fall in in similar circumstances now. To be practical about it, anybody who is living in Ireland on a long-term basis is entitled to claim Irish nationality. If that person was entitled to live in...

Seanad: Twenty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (5 May 2004)

Michael McDowell: I will give the Senator an example. A Unionist in Northern Ireland is a non-national who was born in Ireland.