Certificate of Irishness open to 70 million people worldwide

some_dose

PAUL CULLEN

THE GOVERNMENT has announced plans to introduce a certificate of Irish heritage for up to 70 million people of Irish descent around the world who do not qualify for citizenship.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin said at the weekend he had decided to proceed with the initiative, which was first proposed at the Global Irish Economic Forum at Farmleigh last year.

The certificates will be issued by a third party agency acting under licence from the Department of Foreign Affairs, which is considering charging a fee for each document issued.

The initiative is intended to be self-financing, according to a department source. But he said it was not designed with the intention of raising significant amounts of revenue.

The price charged for the certificates has yet to be set. The tendering documents state that the level of fees shall be subject to the department’s agreement. They add: “The Department is open to considering proposals that provide for sharing a proportion of the fees received with the Department”.

The exact size of the market for a heritage certificate is not known. But it is anticipated that many descendants of Irish emigrants would wish to buy one to display in their homes or as gifts for their children.

Some speakers at last year’s forum were critical of the disconnection between Ireland and members of the diaspora, particularly those unable to qualify for citizenship by virtue of having a parent or grandparent born in Ireland. The forum also highlighted the role the emigrant network could play in helping Ireland improve its economic fortunes.

Mr Martin said the Government had taken a broad and inclusive approach to defining Ireland’s global community. “The Irish diaspora is not limited to Irish citizens living abroad or to those who have activated citizenship. Instead, it encompasses all those who believe they are of Irish descent and feel a sense of affinity with this country.”

The reach, power and influence of many members of the diaspora can provide Ireland with an important competitive edge, he pointed out.

According to the tender documents, it is not possible to determine the value of the concession: “The Irish diaspora is estimated to consist of 70 million . . . many of whom are proud of their Irish heritage”.

The process of selecting a service provider for a trial one-year period is under way, and the issuing of certificates is expected to start later this year, according to the minister.

Operators are likely to have a background in heritage or genealogy. The department is investigating the possibility that certificate-holders would benefit from discounts while visiting Ireland as tourists.

Queue masses of Americans now claiming to be more Irish than the Irish themselves as they wave their pieces of (no doubt expensive) paper around :rolleyes:

galwayrush

"Sure , we couldn't all live in a small country like this.":pac:

Bob the Builder

So does that mean we are acknowledging they are Irish but telling them to piss off if they want to be Irish, pointless?

Ash.J.Williams

some_dose wrote: »

PAUL CULLEN



Queue masses of Americans now claiming to be more Irish than the Irish themselves as they wave their pieces of (no doubt expensive) paper around :rolleyes:

doubt it

galwayrush

Ash.J.Williams wrote: »

doubt it

LOL,True esp after they see our leaders.:D

getz

its not that long since the goverment was selling irish passports to anyone who had the cash to by one

Yakult

self financing my hole.

We'll be stuck with the bill as per usual.

mathie

Certificate of inability to search open to OP

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055946373&highlight=certificate

goose2005

Puts me in mind of those companies which sell acres of land on the Moon.

fontanalis

some_dose wrote: »

PAUL CULLEN



Queue masses of Americans now claiming to be more Irish than the Irish themselves as they wave their pieces of (no doubt expensive) paper around :rolleyes:

No more ridiculous than irish people claiming JFK was irish, or anyone with the remotest link to the country. What was that ridiculous song about Obama?

alwaysadub

Has this not been done before? At least twice i think...

Hank_Jones

Is it just me or does this seem really pointless??

Get the feeling this is just the government wasting money with more pointless departments etc.

I smell a few million down the drain.

BumbleB

Would that allow you to play for the national soccer team ?.

WindSock

Sounds like it will bring in more revenue and tighten economic opportunities abroad, good idea. Plus having Irish roots is a big thing in America, being able to display it officially is no bad thing for those who want to be in touch with their heritage.

Overheal

/shrug

Americans like the Irish. And most of [us] would probably get a kick out of these certs.

Meanwhile the Irish generally despise this relationship for some reason.

It can only be a good thing for Ireland, really.

Slinky>

I can see the 'oirish' Americans loving this.

epgc3fyqirnbsx

This could be a good thing and I've heard the idea before.
Look at the state of Israel (forget about the conflict for now). They will actually give citizenship to anyone who is Jewish. They are very wealthy, with Jews from all over the world travelling to the 'homeland' and financing it.

Ireland could do something similar, we have an enormous diaspora and could use it to our advantage.

Or moan.

minister poxbottle

70 million certs @ 20 quid a throw sounds ok to me :eek:

aDeener

Overheal wrote: »

/shrug

Americans like the Irish. And most of [us] would probably get a kick out of these certs.

Meanwhile the Irish generally despise this relationship for some reason.

It can only be a good thing for Ireland, really.

of course it can only be a good thing, but you are forgetting that this is a government initiative and the government can only do wrong according to boards

karlog

The last thing we need is yanks.

galah

I don't get it - what would you do with it? Just display it in your home??? Could you not just copy mammy's passport in that case, and stick it up on the mantlepiece?

And everybody could qualify for Irish citizenship - you just have to have lived here long enough, contribute, and pay the fee of about a grand. Where's the problem?

Then again, as money making schemes go, this is probably not a bad one - oh, wait. It's been handled by a third-party agency.


Maybe they could tie this to something else - like 'Free e-voting machine with every heritage cert'. Or something.

Ash.J.Williams

karlog wrote: »

The last thing we need is yanks.

what?

danbohan

karlog wrote: »

The last thing we need is yanks.

yea , lets kick all the American multinationals out , that will do wonders for our thriving economy!

owenc

They should do that for every country, i would love to get something like that, as it sort of shows your family heritage and were they come from.

Ash.J.Williams

danbohan wrote: »

yea , lets kick all the American multinationals out , that will do wonders for our thriving economy!

yeah who needs them!!Our Turnip industry should be enough to keep us going!!

Fratton Fred

I think people are missing the point here. Handing out these certificates will be a big thing, of that i am sure, but there is a far more important issue at hand here.

This will be handled by a "Third Party" in other words, a Quango. Times are hard, what with cutbacks and all that, I'm sure there are a few of Brian and Berties mates who need a dig out and what better way to do it than create a nice cushty job for them.

I'm still going to apply for mine, my great grandmother was an O'Leary.

BumbleB

karlog wrote: »

The last thing we need is yanks.

I take offence to that ,I was raised in the U.S.A.

Overheal

karlog wrote: »

The last thing we need is yanks.

Post Reported

Feck it, you'll get enough criticism all by yourself.

Le King

karlog wrote: »

The last thing we need is yanks.

Why?

I'm sure you'd love people like me to take offence to that. Unfortunately we don't.

Don't forget some of the Irish needed these "yanks" many a year ago.

Society now-a-days :rolleyes:.

Bob the Builder

WindSock wrote: »

Sounds like it will bring in more revenue and tighten economic opportunities abroad, good idea. Plus having Irish roots is a big thing in America, being able to display it officially is no bad thing for those who want to be in touch with their heritage.

Overheal wrote: »

/shrug

Americans like the Irish. And most of [us] would probably get a kick out of these certs.

Meanwhile the Irish generally despise this relationship for some reason.

It can only be a good thing for Ireland, really.

I agree with both comments above. In considersation, I take back what I said above. These certs, despire being pointlesss for a large extent, do serve a good broad purpose.

And To add to overheal's note, I can't see why we always try to seperate ourselves from the Americans, etc. They have always, always been nice to us.

karlog wrote: »

The last thing we need is yanks.

I disagree. Whatever about saying that in a property fuelled boom, there's no way you can actually make that statement stand in a recession. And that's just part of it. We need the Americans more than most other countries.

Donkey Oaty

I can see this product dominating the Ulster Unionist ironic gift market.

Eoin

Any other country in the world would be flattered at the thought of tens of millions of people feeling some ancestral connection to that country. But no, we have to piss and moan about it.

Nulty

I think its a great idea from a marketing point of view....

But then evertime I tell someone on Omegle that I'm Irish they com out with "I'm half Irish!" I just tell them that my cat is full Irish..

dgecko

I believe it was a Farmleigh initiative this time around. Excellent idea. Any extra business, tourism and positive connections we can make now are valuable assets for future generations. I do hope its charged fairly unlike the 3rd parties which are running our toll roads which will pay for themselves many times over. Unlike the so called broadband services which are very poor or non-existent in so many areas of the country. Adding these infrastructures and making them available make us different, "smart", ahead of the millions in European countries who are also in business for the same customers. :pac: