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GAZETTE
DECEMBER 1995
it would appear that very wealthy
non-EU Nationals willing to invest
heavily in Irish companies for at least
five years need not worry too much
about the application of these Acts,
their provisions are otherwise
stringently applied to all aliens who
seek to become Irish citizens. Again,
it is interesting to examine the British
Nationality and Status of Aliens Act
1914. In particular Section 2(1) of
that Act empowered the Secretary of
State to grant a Certificate of
Naturalisation to an alien who
satisfied certain criteria set out in the
Act. When we look at the equivalent
provision in the Irish statute of 1956
(mainly Section 15), the Minister for
Justice is conferred with an additional
power to decide these matters as
inserted by the phrase "in his absolute
discretion". The use of this expression
attempts to put decisions relating to
the naturalisation of non-citizens
beyond the scope of the Courts. It is
unlikely however, that an Irish Court
would accept it was precluded from
judicially reviewing decisions in this
area.
In the last two to three years a number
of naturalisation cases have been
brought, in the High Court and are
awaiting decision. The presence of an
"absolute discretion" as found in the
Act is uncommon in Irish statutory
language and in view of the trend of
judicial opinion in recent years in the
area of administrative law the phrase
(and particularly the word "absolute")
must now be considered obsolete and
can not safely be relied upon by the
Minister for Justice when dealing
with questions of naturalisation and
citizenship.
Finally, at an administrative level, it
appears that applicants who apply for
naturalisation in this country often
find themselves waiting for very
lengthy periods of time, up to two
years in some cases, before receiving
a negative reply. It is not unusual for
a non-EEC national who has resided
in the State for up to ten years to be
refused without any stated reasons.
No acknowledgement is given for the
contribution such a person may have
made to the State, in the form of taxes
paid, investments made or other
social contributions. Most EU
countries have statutory mechanisms
in place to deal with immigration and
naturalisation cases by way of
tribunals and appeals procedures.
Such a mechanism in Ireland would
guarantee fairness of treatment to all
our immigrants while at the same time
permitting the Minister for Justice to
exercise her duty to protect the State
in a reasonable and even-handed
manner.
•
London Ball -
continued from page 349
had been donated. As in previous years,
the first prize in the raffle was two
return air tickets to New York, kindly
donated by Aer Lingus. The tickets
were won by an American couple living
in London who were delighted to win
the chance of a free trip home for
Thanksgiving or Christmas!
Other items in the raffle included a
weekend for two at Ballymaloe House,
two return tickets to Dublin on Virgin
Atlantic CityJet and a superb piece of
crystal donated by Bank of Ireland.
There were many smaller items
including a bottle of the 'hard stuff
which had been donated by a new Irish
"pub in London, Waxy O'Connor's! The
raffle raised over £1,300.
I was very grateful for the generosity of
several major Irish law firms and
commercial institutions, who supported
the Ball by hosting corporate tables,
taking advertisements in our souvenir
programme, making financial donations
or donating items for the raffle.
As before, McCann FitzGerald were
there in force, led by one of their
London-based partners,
John Cronin.
Also there was
RoddyBourke,
a
litigation partner in McCanns, who had
assisted with the organisation of earlier
Balls when he worked in London.
Another leading Irish firmwith an office
in London Matheson Ormsby Prentice
supported the Ball once again and
their corporate table was hosted by
StanleyWatson,
the firm's resident
London partner.
Two other major Irish law firms with
offices in London are William Fry and
A & L Goodbody. Both firms had very
kindly sent me generous donations to
benefit the NSPCC and A & L
Goodbody was represented by partner
Stephen Hamilton.
It is very encouraging that the Ball has
the support of the four Irish firms with
offices in London.
Newcomers to the Ball this year were
Dublin firmDillon Eustace, who also
took a corporate table. There were more
partners from Dillon Eustace at the Ball
than from any other law firm or
institution! I hope that they will now
become regular attendees.
I was pleased that
Justin McKenna,
the
incoming president of the Dublin
Solicitors Bar Association was also at
the Ball. The London-based partners of
some of the leading New York firms
were there, including
Peter Finlay,
an
Irish solicitor who now runs the London
office of White & Case.
Peter Kelly SC
was one of the many members of the
Irish and English Bars present.
Other major corporate attendees and
contributors included Aer Lingus, AIB
Bank, Anglo Irish Bankcorp, Bank of
Ireland, Bord Failte, Irish Permanent
and Virgin Atlantic CityJet. Thanks are
due to all of them and to the many other
supporters of the Ball, including the
members of the Association who attend
regularly.
Irish solicitors and other
Gazette
readers
who have not yet come to the Ball
might consider doing so in future years!
The best news of all is that the Ball
succeeded in raising over £10,000 to
benefit the NSPCC. My many sleepless
nights in the run-up to the Ball were not
in vain when the Ball produced such a
wonderful result for this very
worthwhile charity.
*Cliona O'Tuama is President of the
Irish Solicitors' Bar Association in
London.
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