This contribution was originally published in the Irish Examiner on September 12th 2026.

It’s difficult to escape ongoing debate around the proposed Irish citizenship changes. As an EU national with a Malaysian spouse and an Irish-born toddler and being months away from applying for citizenship ourselves, it’s obviously a top-of-mind issue.

To be clear, I think there are some very welcome changes being discussed here. In particular, language proficiency is obviously a key consideration for building your life here and contributing to society.

I can’t help myself from adding the side note that even candidates running for Uachtarán na hÉireann treat using their cúpla focal as entirely optional.

The particular aspect I think is worth talking about is around the increased residency requirements. This is, in my view, less about necessary alignment across EU states than sending a message of appeasement to those seeking to blame immigration for all that ails Ireland. Across the EU, the residence requirement for citizenship ranges between three and 10 years, raising it from five to eight years firmly puts the country at the most restrictive end of that spectrum.

Introducing this change with a cliff edge could leave current residents missing out on eligibility to apply for citizenship by just days or weeks and move the goalposts after years of building their life here, as well as adding to the uncertainty of their continued acceptance in a country they call home in an increasingly hostile environment for non-nationals.

There are reasonable accommodations when introducing these changes in an empathetic way, options like a 12-month grace period for people nearing their application date or a gradual introduction where the residency requirement increases by one year every year so the impact is minimised for anyone who was already on the path to citizenship and has committed to Ireland.

Citizenship is, and should remain, a privilege rather than an automatic entitlement. But strengthening the process does not need to mean losing sight of the people who have already made Ireland their home.

It’s important that when responding to increasingly hostile rhetoric around immigration, we do not end up adopting it ourselves.

I’m hopeful a céad míle fáilte can still be extended to those who make positive contributions to their communities without additional roadblocks being introduced.