Ireland Act 1949

5 Provisions as to operation of British Nationality Act, 1948.

(1) A person who—

(a) was born before the sixth day of December, nineteen hundred and twenty-two, in the part of Ireland which now forms the Republic of Ireland ; and

(b) was a British subject immediately before the date of the commencement of the British Nationality Act, 1948,

shall not be deemed to have ceased to be a British subject on the coming into force of that Act unless either—

(i) he was, on the said sixth day of December, domiciled in the part of Ireland which now forms the Republic of Ireland; or

(ii) he was, on or after the tenth day of April nineteen hundred and thirty-five, and before the date of the commencement of that Act, permanently resident in that part of Ireland ; or

(iii) he had, before the date of the commencement of that Act, been registered as a citizen of Eire under the laws of that part of Ireland relating to citizenship.

(2) In relation to persons born before the said sixth day of December in the part of Ireland which now forms the Republic of Ireland, being persons who do not satisfy any of the conditions specified in paragraphs (i), (ii) and (iii) of subsection (1) of this section, sections twelve and thirteen of the said Act (which relate to citizenship of the United Kingdom and Colonies and to British subjects without citizenship) shall have effect and be deemed always to have had effect as if, in paragraph (a) of subsection (4) of the said section twelve, the words " or a citizen of Eire " and in subsection (1) of the said section thirteen, the words " or of Eire " were omitted.

(3) So much of the said Act as has the effect of providing that a person is, in specified circumstances, to be treated for the purposes of that Act as having been a British subject immediately before the commencement thereof shall apply also for the purposes of this section.

(4) Nothing in this section affects the position of any person who, on the coming into force of the British Nationality Act, 1948, became a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies or a British subject without citizenship apart from the provisions of this section.