What does this research mean for the field?

In Irish media and political discourse, the legitimacy of materially motivated marriages is unevenly constructed, with tax-motivated same-sex citizen unions embraced as pragmatic while immigration-motivated transnational heterosexual unions are criminalized based on intersecting hierarchies of race, sexuality, and citizenship. Novelty: ClaimNovelty.INCREMENTAL. Consensus alignment: ConsensusAlignment.NEUTRAL.

What question did this study set out to answer?

To examine how Irish media and political discourse constructs the boundaries of legitimate intimacy by comparing coverage of tax-motivated citizen marriages and immigration-motivated transnational marriages.

September 2, 2026Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies

‘An Irish solution to an Irish problem’: constructing legitimate intimacy in tax marriage and migration marriage in Ireland

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Authors

SHSteph HanlonSocial Justice Ireland

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Implication

Qualitative discourse analysis reveals disparate framing of tax versus migration marriages in Irish press, highlighting biases rooted in race and citizenship.

Key Points

To examine how Irish media and political discourse constructs the boundaries of legitimate intimacy by comparing coverage of tax-motivated citizen marriages and immigration-motivated transnational marriages.
Discursive content analysis of 28 articles published in the Irish press.
Application of Anthony Giddens’s theoretical sociological framework of the 'pure relationship' to evaluate perceptions of instrumental versus authentic intimacy.
Media discourse framed a 2017 tax-motivated marriage between two male Irish citizens positively as pragmatic, culturally authentic, and benign.
Heterosexual marriages involving non-citizen spouses were systematically criminalized and framed as fraudulent threats to national integrity.

Cite This Study

Steph Hanlon (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a97e20ec562ede874ec60cc https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183x.2026.2708447

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Implication

Qualitative discourse analysis reveals disparate framing of tax versus migration marriages in Irish press, highlighting biases rooted in race and citizenship.

‘An Irish solution to an Irish problem’: constructing legitimate intimacy in tax marriage and migration marriage in Ireland

Discussion

Member takes

Implication

Key Points

Cite This Study

‘An Irish solution to an Irish problem’: constructing legitimate intimacy in tax marriage and migration marriage in Ireland

Discussion

Member takes

Implication

Key Points

Cite This Study

Also Consider

Also Consider