SURGE IN IRISH PASSPORT APPLICATIONS AFTER VOTE

Posted on 06/27/2016 | About Ireland

Britain's vote to leave the European Union has spurred a surge in interest in obtaining Irish citizenship from people in Northern Ireland.

The Post Office in Northern Ireland says it has “seen an unusually high number of people in Northern Ireland seeking Irish passport applications.”
Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom, but most people born there can also claim citizenship in the neighbouring Republic of Ireland - an EU member. While Britain as a whole voted to leave the EU in Thursday's referendum, a majority of voters in Northern Ireland opted to remain.
Irish citizenship has generally been taken up by members of Northern Ireland's Irish nationalist Roman Catholic community, rather than by Protestants who identify as British.
But in a sign of how the referendum has turned politics on its head, one of Northern Ireland's leading Protestant politicians, Ian Paisley Jr., tweeted: “My advice is if you are entitled to second passport then take one.”