Ward voices opposition to change in immigration rules

Fine Gael TD Barry Ward has exposed a potential divide in his party’s coalition with Fianna Fáil and within Fine Gael itself.

In September, Minister for Justice and Fianna Fáil TD Jim O’Callaghan announced sweeping changes to Ireland’s immigration laws.

The Dublin Bay South TD announced changes to Ireland’s immigration laws, chief among them raising the amount of time an immigrant needs to spend in Ireland before becoming eligible for citizenship.

Under the new legislation, it will now take someone eight years to become an Irish citizen instead of five.

Minister O’Callaghan’s justification was that Ireland was an outlier compared to the rest of Europe on immigration laws, and he said that eight years is the same amount of time immigrants to Germany need to wait before attaining citizenship.

Minister O’Callaghan asserted that the proposed reforms are “balanced, proportionate and necessary.”

“The measures concern the requirements for naturalisation and should not be interpreted as a judgment on the contribution of migrants. They seek to ensure that citizenship reflects a demonstrated, durable connection to Ireland, knowledge of the state and its institutions, and a sustained commitment to participation in Irish society.”

Minister O’Callaghan’s argument was backed up by junior minister Colm Brophy, who claimed that citizenship is a “privilege, not a right.”

Brophy, who serves as minister for integration (curiously, a junior minister role when it was a Cabinet role in the last government), sang the praises of the EU Migration Pact this week, widely regarded as the most right-wing piece of legislation that the European Parliament has ever produced.

The Dublin South-West TD said this week “while it is still early, the experience to date in Ireland demonstrates that the Pact is delivering a more efficient and effective asylum system.” 

Dún Laoghaire TD Ward, who has emerged as part of the social liberal wing of Fine Gael since his Dáil election in 2024, said he “fundamentally disagrees” with the changes.

“This country does not function without foreign workers. If the people who come here to give us the benefit of their expertise, hard work and experience were to leave, we would not have a healthcare sector, hospitality sector or tech sector,” Ward stated in the Dáil this week.

Ward rubbished Minister O’Callaghan’s claims that his changes bring Ireland in line with the rest of Europe.

“In my opinion, we do not need to increase the wait to eight years. It does not bring us in line with Europe. 13 of the 27 EU countries have a requirement of five years or fewer for citizenship,” he noted.

Indeed, Germany changing its immigration laws was at the behest of the deeply unpopular CDU/SPD coalition, which is analogous to a Fine Gael/Labour coalition in Ireland.

Germany’s decision to limit immigration has been tied to its weak economic performance by economists, with German GDP set to grow by a mere 1.3% this year, which flies in the face of the Fianna Fáil argument that there is an economic advantage to tightening immigration laws.

Ward said, “I do not see the benefit for Ireland to increasing the period for naturalisation from five to eight years. I also do not think that anybody comes to this country on the basis of how long it takes before they apply for citizenship by naturalisation. I do not know how much difference it will make either way.

Ward did state he was in agreement with the principle of a citizenship test, calling for it to be introduced during his time in the Seanad.

“More often than not, when we talk about language and people coming here we are referring to the English language. However, if a person came here and developed an interest and expertise in Irish, that should put them in a different position when applying for citizenship,” he said.

Ward said he was nominally in support of immigration reforms, but said that his colleague Brophy, and the government itself, got it wrong on this occasion.

“I disagree with him (Brophy) on this particular policy. We have, however, made huge progress, and that huge progress should be recognised when possible,” he said.

Brophy insisted that the new measures were “not contradictory.”

The Dublin South-West TD explained that the migration framework is “fair, transparent and rules-based, that provides certainty for applicants and consistency in decision-making.”

He said that changing the rules would help the government maintain the “trust and support of the wider public.”

“That is why this government has been clear that Ireland must have a migration system that is welcoming to those who come here legally and contribute positively to Irish society, while also being firm, fair and effective in its operation. 

He said that Ireland’s migration policy does not “begin and end at the point of arrival.”

“Successful migration policy must also focus on what happens afterwards. It must support people to participate fully in Irish society and to become active members of the communities in which they live. That is why integration remains a central pillar of the government’s approach,” he said.

In last week’s lead story in the Southside People, we noted a subtle difference between parties such as Sinn Féin and their prospective coalition partners on the left on issues such as the carbon tax, and another difference has reared its head in the form of the immigration debate.

Sinn Féin immigration spokesperson Matt Carthy said that “emphasis has to be put on integration, civic participation, community involvement and an understanding of Irish society, including an ability in Irish, English or Irish Sign Language.”

Carthy claimed that the existing immigration policy has “created chaos, increased tensions and undermined social cohesion in a way that was entirely avoidable.”

Sinn Féin has to walk a tight line between appealing to socially conservative working-class voters and socially progressive metropolitan voters if it wants to lead the next government; comments of that ilk by Cathy represent the dilemma facing the party.

Carthy stated, “the days of misrepresenting Sinn Féin are over; we will not allow any west Brit self-declared patriots to misrepresent us ever again.”

Social Democrats TD Sineád Gibney has called the new immigration rules “performative.”

“That is the hallmark of Minister O’Callaghan’s ministership so far. When we try to dig for an understanding as to why these measures are being introduced, there is no evidence for them, and that to me is part of what we talk about when we talk about these cruel and performative measures,” the Dublin Rathdown TD said.

Gibney called the eight-year citizenship rule “ridiculous.”

“People who had expectations around when they were going to have citizenship have had their lives upturned by this decision. I urge the Minister of State to rethink it. Believe me, I want the government to reverse the decision, but at the very least offer those people who are already in the system the clarity and consistency that they expect on their naturalisation path towards citizenship in this country,” she said