Britons Eye Ancestry, Love To Secure Post-Brexit Rights

Fahad Shabbir (@FahadShabbir) Published August 16, 2016 | 11:24 AM

LONDON, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 16th Augst,2016) - From looking up their European ancestry to seeking out a continental soulmate, some Britons are leaving no stone unturned in their bid to keep ties with Europe after the nation's vote to leave the union.

So far, nobody knows whether British citizens will face curbs on living and working in the European Union post-Brexit but the uncertainty has led many with as-yet-unfulfilled claims to both British and EU rights to file their paperwork. The easiest way to obtain an EU passport is through an ancestral link to a country within the bloc and Ireland is the most likely choice for Britons. An estimated 10 percent of British citizens have claims to Irish citizenship, which can be granted to grandchildren of its citizens.

"Before the referendum, I was thinking about applying for Irish citizenship but I wasn't going to do it unless we voted to leave because I felt it was dishonest," journalist Johanna Derry told AFP. Since the vote, Derry has gathered the documents needed to be placed on the Irish foreign birth registry, opening the way for a full application. "I feel like I'm European, so in order to stay European...

it just makes sense," she said. "I have been accused of maybe betraying my English roots... but I have so much Irish culture in my family life that it doesn't jar with me."