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Why one Irish granny now beats eight years of paying taxes

30 0
19.09.2026

MASS migration is causing countries to urgently revise their rules on residency and citizenship.

Nowhere is this action more urgent than in Britain, where between 2021 and 2024 there was net migration of two and a half million.

The British Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, said in a speech in March: “To put that in context, at least one in every 30 people in the UK today arrived in that time. In just four years Britain experienced levels of migration it had previously seen across four decades.

“Today over 100,000 people live in asylum accommodation paid for by the taxpayer. In 2024 over £4 billion was spent on asylum accommodation.”

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These numbers place enormous pressure on schools, medical services and housing.

Accordingly, the British government has decided to bring in legislation on residency and citizenship, greatly extending the period required before a person can receive ‘indefinite leave to remain’ and subsequently apply for citizenship.

The Republic of Ireland is facing similar pressures, though nothing like the same scale as in Britain.

Nevertheless, the government has decided to copy some of the measures Britain proposes.

Last week Jim O’Callaghan, Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, got agreement from the Cabinet to bring in legislation, “as a priority”, to extend the........

© The Irish News