Thread by @EmmandJDeSouza

Thread: On Thursday, as part of the Stormont deal, The British Government committed itself to changing the Immigration rules in Northern Ireland to remove the barrier to rights that we've been fighting against for the past 5 year's.

What does that mean?

Our case began in 2015 when the British Home Office denied my husband Jakes application for an EEA residence card. This refusal was based on the Home Office considering the people of NI as British citizens, regardless of the GFA & my lifelong Irish identity and passport.

The workaround offered by the Home Office was that NI born citizens can renounce British citizenship in order to rely on their Irish citizenship so that they can access this right to family reunification

We have argued that this requirement goes against the Good Friday Agreement

The policy being enacted by the Home Office, of forcing people in NI to adopt or renounce a citizenship in order to access rights is one of the most fundamentally flawed policies we've seen. It has had a hugely negative impact on the citizenship and identity of the GFA.

The proposed changes, outlined in 'New Decade New Approach' address this flawed policy and on the surface appear to remove that barrier to rights. No more renunciation. We may be looking at one of those rare instances where rights are levelled up. With everyone in NI benefitting.

The impact of these proposals will be enormously beneficial to those who have non EEA families members and will, we hope, ensure that no other family in NI faces the same struggles that we have.

But we need to see detail in order to fully evaluate the impact of these changes.

We have a host of questions, when will these changes be enacted? Are they time limited? What will the family reunion rights of Irish citizens in the UK be after Brexit? Will NI born citizens now be able to access the EU settlement scheme?

Many opted to renounce British citizenship when faced with this restriction to their rights. With the acceptance of the injustice of this policy will the British Government allow those who renounced - who may not have wanted to, to now reclaim British citizenship?

One community, that has been unrepresented by their political representatives, are unionists. Many NI born British citizens have had to renounce their citizenship in order to access rights. It's my hope that the parties will now join me in helping them reclaim their citizenship

Scope and detail needed but on the surface these changes will provide Northern Ireland with a different set of immigration rules when it comes to family migration. Whether a person identifies as Irish or British or both they will be able to benefit from more generous rights.

In terms of our own pending court case. It's impossible to comment on what impact, if any, that these changes would have on our case.

These changes address the initial immigration issue but our case hasn't been about immigration for quite some time.

The Upper Tribunal judges that ruled against us in October took it upon themselves to establish the intent and scope of the birthright provisions of the Good Friday Agreement. They have set a legal precedent that dramatically minimises this provision to a right to 'feel' Irish.

Our case and subsequent appeal is to establish the Good Friday Agreement as a constitutional document for Northern Ireland and to secure the right of everyone in NI to regard themselves as Irish or British or both and to be legally accepted as such.

Legislative changes are still required to the British Nationality Act 1981 in order to fully implement this right into domestic UK law.

But the changes in NDNA are monumental - they will have a practical impact on the lives of many across NI. For this we are delighted & grateful