A Native Irish person is any person who satisfies one of the following two conditions:
Born on the island of Ireland — the person was born on the island of Ireland and had at least two great-grandparents who were themselves born on the island of Ireland to families rooted in Ireland across at least one further generation back.
Born abroad to the Irish diaspora — the person was born outside the island of Ireland but can demonstrate that at least two of their eight great-grandparents were born on the island of Ireland to families themselves rooted in Ireland across at least one further generation back.
In both cases the generational depth requirement exists to ensure that Native Irish status reflects genuine, multigenerational rootedness in the Irish nation — not merely the accident of birth location or the presence of a single recent ancestor on the island.
The Exclusion of Plantation and Imperial Lineages
For the purposes of this article, Irish ancestry means ancestry that is genuinely and authentically of the Irish nation — rooted in the indigenous population of this island and in communities whose presence here preceded or was independent of the plantation and imperial settlement of Ireland.
Lineages established in Ireland solely or primarily through the plantation system, imperial land grant, colonial administration, or the deliberate displacement of the native Irish population do not constitute Irish ancestry for the purposes of this article, regardless of how many generations such a lineage has been present on the island.
Presence on the island is not the same as belonging to the nation. The nation is not defined by geography alone. It is defined by the living continuity of a people, a culture, and an identity that survived conquest precisely because it was never the same thing as the administrative territory imposed upon it.
Mixed Ancestry
A person of mixed ancestry — some lines of which are of the indigenous Irish nation and some of which are of plantation or imperial origin — shall be assessed on the basis of whether they meet the qualifying threshold through their genuinely Irish lines alone. Plantation and imperial lines shall not be counted toward the two-grandparent or two-great-grandparent threshold. Where a person’s genuinely Irish lines, assessed independently of any plantation or imperial lines, satisfy the relevant threshold, that person qualifies as Native Irish.
The Purpose of This Article
This provision shall be interpreted with honesty and without malice. Its purpose is not to punish any person for the circumstances of their ancestry, which no person chooses. Its purpose is to ensure that Native Irish status — and the constitutional rights that flow from it — reflects a genuine and authentic connection to the Irish nation in its historical and cultural depth, rather than merely a count of generations spent on the island regardless of how or why those generations came to be here.
Determination of Disputed Cases
Where any question arises about whether a particular lineage qualifies under this article, it shall be determined by the Constitutional Court on the basis of historical and genealogical evidence, with the assistance of independent historians and genealogists appointed for that purpose by the Citizens’ Assembly. No determination shall be made on the basis of surname, religion, political affiliation, or any other proxy. The question is one of historical fact and shall be answered as such, with full procedural fairness to the person whose status is under consideration.
Rights
Native Irish persons hold the full range of constitutional rights including land ownership, voting, eligibility for all public offices, and every protection afforded by this constitution.
Relationship to Article 14
The provisions of Article 14 concerning the Irish Traveller community apply independently of and in addition to this article. Members of the Irish Traveller community whose family has been present on the island of Ireland across generations are Native Irish persons regardless of any gaps in the ancestral record that result from the nomadic nature of Traveller life, and regardless of any question that might otherwise arise under the plantation exclusion provision of this article. The Traveller community are unambiguously of the indigenous Irish nation. No provision of this article shall ever be applied to their disadvantage.