Bored of being British

The slogan used by David Cameron during his attempt to present the Tories as the environmentalist party, now has a new meaning.

Increasing numbers of Brits, including presumably many Tory and Reform voters who backed Brexit, are applying for Irish passports. Anyone who was born in Northern Ireland or has a single Irish grandparent or parent can get an Irish passport and, with it, seamless freedom to move and live anywhere in the EU.

It’s the right the Brexiteers claimed we would never lose, and then threw away the second the referendum was over.

British applications for Irish passports rose by 15% last year to a new post-Brexit high of more than 23,000 – and that is just the ones applying for Irish passports. There are plenty of people who are entitled to other EU passports: French, Greek, Polish, or even in Nigel Farage’s case German. While the whole population of Northern Ireland is entitled to dual citizenship with the Republic, even DUP MPs are welcome to apply; although surely they wouldn’t do that, would they?

But what is driving this increase? For a start, as the realities of Brexit become more obvious and painful, it really pays to have a passport from an EU country. It means you can travel and work in the EU. An Irish passport will improve your CV and job chances in the UK even if you never visit the Emerald Isle.

Also, if you want to live in most EU countries for more than three months out of every six, you need either a visa or an EU passport; then you can stay there as long as you want. It’s pretty much essential for all those Brits with a place in the sun and plans to retire abroad.

Some countries are making it much less hospitable for visiting or retiring Brits. You used to be able to buy “golden visas”, depending on how much you invested in Spain and Portugal. Now they have been scrapped, and Spain has turned full circle and is planning a 100% super tax on foreigners buying property. This is in response to a housing crisis in Spain, but they can only introduce the tax on non-EU citizens. If you are Irish or from any other EU country the tax will not apply.

It has to be said that the UK is not what it was – insular, isolated, slow growing, and with an ageing population, it’s remarkable so many young people opt to stay. You can wait to see if the government finally gets around to a limited Youth Mobility Scheme with the EU, which will last only three years at most, or you can get another passport and live anywhere in Europe for ever. It is a no brainer.

Don’t forget three of the best performing economies in Europe last year were Spain, Portugal and Greece, with The Economist putting Spain at the top of its world growth league table. Oh, and Ireland is now far wealthier than the UK.

And having Irish relatives is not the only way to go. Any British citizen has the right to work and live in Ireland and after five years apply for citizenship. Either that, or you can marry a local and get it immediately.

There is really very little to keep you in the UK if you are young and really want to be an EU citizen again.

Even if you voted for Brexit, Go green, you know it makes sense.