The 2004 Irish citizenship referendum: A case of stealth White supremacy

The 2004 Irish Citizenship Referendum was a large tool in an already extant project to secure an overwhelmingly White national populace and delimit the presence of people of colour who, by definition, disrupt that mission. This article – through an examination of Oireachtas debates, high-profile immigration cases in a global perspective, current anti-immigration movements and contemporary engagements with authoritarianism – argues that the 2004 referendum and subsequent 27th Amendment ending birthright citizenship in Ireland can best be contextualised as participation in a White supremacy project. Hence the end of jus soli citizenship in Ireland was less an anomaly in an otherwise humanitarian society but an extension of anti-Blackness and a commitment to Whiteness at the core of Irish identity.