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LAST UPDATE | 13 Jun 2020
CITIZENSHIP CAMPAIGNER EMMA DeSouza has expressed interest in being one of the Taoiseach’s 11 Seanad nominees.
DeSouza was involved in a legal battle with the UK Home Office over whether being born in the North automatically conferred a person with British citizenship.
There was speculation earlier that she was in the running to be one of the next Taoiseach’s nominees, after her name was reportedly put forward by a number of Fine Gael TDs.
However, party sources moved to distance themselves from that speculation this evening.
In a statement earlier, DeSouza expressed her interest in filling one of the remaining seats in the Seanad.
“As an independent advocate for the principles of the Good Friday Agreement and for the people of Northern Ireland I’d be delighted and honoured to receive such an invaluable opportunity,” she said.
“Now more than ever independent Northern voices are needed, as we face significant challenges in overseeing the implementation of the Northern Ireland protocol, protecting the Good Friday Agreement and the Common Travel Area.
“It is my hope that the incoming Taoiseach will take into account these challenges and the benefit that having independent Northern voices would have in facing them. I also hope there will be a gender balance given the election results.”
She also said that as a citizens’ rights campaigner who has campaigned for the Good Friday Agreement’s principles to be fully realised, her nomination would be life-changing.
The Taoiseach of the next government is empowered to nominate 11 appointees but a new government has yet to be formed. It is expected at least one of these appointments will be from the North.
Ian Marshall, a Unionist farmer and anti-Brexit campaigner was a Senator in the last Seanad after being approached by Fine Gael leader Leo Varadkar.
DeSouza brought the citizenship rights of those born in the North to public attention after the Home Office rejected her husband Jake’s application for an EEA residence card in the North.
Although DeSouza was born in the North and has a right under the Good Friday Agreement to identify as either Irish or British or both, the UK classified her as being British.
Last month, the UK changed its immigration laws so that those in the North can now use a scheme designed for European nationals – the EU Settlement Scheme – to apply for residency for non-European spouses, without first having to renounce British citizenship.
The new rule effectively means people in the North now have an entitlement to be treated as Irish citizens under immigration laws if they so wish.
Contains reporting by Gráinne Ní Aodha and Press Association.
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There is ALWAYS more than one reason for an accident, blaming the driver entirely is wrong in my opinion. For instance, a reckless individual would have been noted by somebody else in the company at least once in the past 13 yrs. We will have to wait for the final report to know ALL the factors that caused this tragedy.
He woke up on thursday mornin as a train driver.. He went to sleep with a charge of reckless manslaughter of 78 people hanging over him..
His life is ruined no matter how guilty or innocent he is.. Along with all the other families who lost loved ones…
I wouldn’t make my mind up about any incident like this until a full technical report about the track/train was published,this seems all a bit too quick,he’s still in hospital FFS
Agreed. Let the man recover a bit first before charging at him with axes and burning torches.
This man should be put down after this act of negligence! Bragging on his Facebook page about goin 200 kph you would think he was a teenager. Hope he never sleeps again thinking of what he did
Have you forgotten the possibility that it may not be his fault ? An unlikely possibility maybe but angry mob mentality will do nobody any good.
I think there is the possibility that the Facebook page was a fake.
Have to agree with you there Patrick. And @ the journal.ie… why did you report yesterday that he had been charged with reckless homicide and now he faces “possible charges of reckless homicide”!? Same guy, two different qoutes??
I presume the driver didn’t get up in the morning and say ” I’m going to kill a load of passengers today” ……….
I have to agree there with the comment @ Journal. Come on guys – you’ve got a great news portal already without resorting to sensationalism. Leave that to the experts at Sky.
Hi there,
I don’t think any article yesterday said the driver was charged? There was one which said he had been detained since Thursday “for the alleged crimes of reckless homicide” but there was no mention of charges.
Hi Jennifer,
My apologies… It wasn’t here on The Journal that I read that. Got them mixed up. Damn, I hate my obsession with the news :)
Sorry Jennifer.
Ah, that’s what you get for reading your news elsewhere ;) No worries, guys.
From what I’ve read in the Spanish media, the accident occurred pretty much at the point where the train moved from AVE (high speed) lines with very advanced signaling that controls the trains’ speed and won’t allow a driver to exceed speed limits to a conventional normal speed line where signaling systems wouldn’t control the train speed but only advise the driver of it.
I think we need to wait for the dust to settle and allow the technical investigation to run its course before we jump to any conclusions about the driver.
The investigation will be very through and that’s a very high tech train so it will have onboard camera and data recorders.
They’ll go through this much like an air crash investigation.
Innocent ’til proven guilty, eh ? Oh, sorry, wrong way around for some on here. As others have said;, ignore the media speculation and wait for the full report. Media speculates to sell their product, regardless of fallout to any individual, the driver in this case. Benefit of the doubt, people, benefit of the doubt.
Innocent ’til proven guilty, eh ? Oh, sorry, wrong way around for some on here. As others have said;, ignore the media speculation and wait for the full report. Media speculates to sell their product, regardless of fallout to any individual, the driver in this case. Benefit of the doubt, people, benefit of the doubt.
have your say