Harney defends date of poll on citizens

The Tánaiste, Ms Harney, has defended the decision to hold the citizenship referendum the same day as the European and local elections on the grounds that it would ensure a larger and more representative poll.

She has also insisted that other parties had been consulted in advance on the referendum, but that consensus was never likely.

Ms Harney was speaking after comments by her party colleague, Ms Liz O'Donnell TD, who questioned the wisdom of combining the referendum with the June elections and said there appeared to be a "conflict of interest as to who was consulted, and when, and to what extent".

Interviewed on RTE's Morning Ireland yesterday, the Tánaiste said the Cabinet had discussed several options on the timing of the poll.

One was a a stand-alone referendum, but it was felt this would mean a smaller turn-out, with two polarized camps voting rather that a "mainstream" electorate.

Another possibility was holding it in conjunction with the presidential election - if there is one - which would be unfair to the President, Mrs McAleese, who would not able to participate in the debate.

Cabinet members were not "gung-ho" for any option, Ms Harney added. "But on balance it was felt it would be better to have it when other issues are being put to the people."

On the issue of cross-party agreement, she said this was always desirable, but not always possible. The Minister for Justice had held "brief discussions" with the Labour leader and the then Fine Gael spokesman on justice, while the SDLP leader had been briefed by an official from the Department of Foreign Affairs.

"I think people confuse consultation and agreement. I don't think we were ever going to get all-party agreement on this."

Whatever about the timing of the referendum, she added, most parties accepted the need to address a loophole in citizenship laws introduced inadvertently in the Good Friday agreement.

"Everybody that I've heard speak about this has acknowledged that there is a difficulty(It) was never intended that somebody who has no connection with this State can acquire and maintain and pass on to others Irish citizenship without even acquiring the most minimal connection or loyalty to the State."

Ms Harney conceded that the Government had no precise numbers for people it believed were deliberately exploiting the loophole, other than that 24 per cent of births in Dublin alone were to non-nationals:

"We do know that there's a Chinese woman in Britain claiming the right to stay there on the basis that she had a child in Ireland. We knowthis is a problem in Northern Ireland as well."

Yet even if the numbers were small, she added, the Government had a duty to close a loophole that was open to abuse.