Thread by @EmmaCDeSouza

As our case creeps closer so does those who would seek to undermine our case, character & motivations

Here's a little debunking of their favourite fabrications

1) I "got an Irish passport just to apply for this visa" I got my Irish passport 6 years before I met my husband 1/18

"It's a political stunt" It's a court case asking the British government to accept me as an Irish citizen & to stablise my husband’s immigration status. We had applied, appealed & been in the immigration system for 18 months before we spoke to any politician or the media. 2/

"We wanted to avail of the more liberal EU rules" There's 2 options lads, spouse of a British citizen or an EEA residence card for the spouse of an EU national - guess which one is for Irish citizens? This was not an attempt to circumvent the immigration rules 3/

"We chose to appeal" The government chose to appeal. We won in the first tier tribunal yet the Home Office has appealed and deferred the appeal at every possible opportunity 4/

"There's no loss of rights" If there was no loss of rights there would be no court case. Any Irish/EU citizen in the UK has an entitlement to family reunification. This right is being denied in our case and in Northern Ireland as a whole 5/

I "don't have to identify as British" citizenship = identity. Requiring Irish citizens in Northern Ireland to accept themselves as British, declare themselves as British & renounce being British is completely against parity of esteem & the birthright provisions of the #GFA 6/

My lawyers are "Sinn Féin lawyers" they're just lawyers guys. For anyone that wants to know we are represented by MSM LAW, with Helena Wilson and Ronan Lavery QC (who btw was good enough for Jamie Bryson) not everything has to be sectarian... 7/

I'm being "bankrolled" I have a full time day job which is often hard to balance with my campaign work which is entirely unpaid and often expensive 8/

I'm a "Nationalist/Republican" The fixation with my political leanings is ridiculous 9/

It's a "Nationalist" campaign. It's a campaign for the full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement which would protect all the people of Northern Ireland & safeguard unionists right to British citizenship in a United Ireland 10/

It's a "reinterpretation" of the GFA

"recognise the birthright of all the people of Northern Ireland to identify themselves & be accepted as Irish or British, or both, as they may so choose, & accordingly confirm that their right to hold both British & Irish citizenship" 11/

This can be read from the text constituting a duty on both States for such persons “to be accepted as” Irish or British or both. The question of (national) identity is also notably limited to the same categories as citizenship 12/

Rights “to hold both British and Irish citizenship” accommodate persons who choose to be ‘both’ British and Irish. This is in light of many states not permitting dual citizenship.

There is no distinction between identity and citizenship in the GFA 13/

NIHRC has highlighted that discussions & recommendations on legislating the birthright provisions of the Good Friday Agreement have been ongoing for over twenty years 14/

"The people of Northern Ireland are British" The Good Friday Agreement is explicit in that the people of Northern Ireland have the right to be accepted as Irish or British or both 15/

We are "wasting taxpayer's money" We don't receive legal aid & are not supported financially by any organisation or political party. We pay our own fees & have had to set up a GoFundMe to help with this 3rd attempt by the Home Office to have the ruling in our favor set aside 16/

But do you know who does use taxpayer's money? The Home Office. Who has spent untold resources pursuing this case. At the last hearing the department was represented by multiple barrister's, QCs, solicitors & observers at the taxpayer's expense 17/

For those that would genuinely like to understand our case a full summary & timeline is available here 18/18 link.medium.com/CxNlxSey9Y