If the vote goes Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage’s way, in just over a week Britain could be leaving the EU. That would mean that British citizens would no longer be able to travel freely between EU countries, and live and work in the EU. There is a way some people could get around that, however, if they have dual citizenship, and a passport for another country that is in the EU. If say, for instance, you had an Irish passport. And Sky News reports that the possibility of Britain leaving the EU has caused hundreds of eligable Brits to apply for one.
Sky says that applications from England, Scotland and Wales have increased by 25%, from 1,518 in the first five months of 2015, to 1,901 in the same period in 2016. Irish Foreign Minister Charlie Flanagan said that it’s forced them to take on loads more extra staff:
We've had an unprecedented level of applications. We have in excess of 200 new staff on a temporary basis in our passport office. I don't have any evidence that you can forge a link between an increase in passport applications and the current referendum but I do acknowledge the factual position that there is heightened interest in Irish passport application and Irish citizenship.
People with an Irish parent, grandparent or great-grandparent can apply for citizenship, but grandchildren have to have been recorded in the country's foreign births register for their offspring to be eligible.
[via Sky News]
