The largely unexpected result of the EU referendum on 23 June has been a source of deep anguish for those who wanted the UK to remain in the EU. While there was a big protest against the result in London yesterday, as Teresa May put it, ‘Brexit is Brexit’: the UK is going to leave the EU and whatever measures available to ease the pain have to be taken up.
There are reports that some UK nationals living outside the UK are rushing to obtain a passport of other EU member states in order to retain their rights to live and work in EU territories. Even before the referendum, it was reported that some UK nationals started to apply for citizenship of the Republic of Ireland on account of their ancestry because of the fear of Brexit.
The trend has apparently gathered such a momentum that the Irish foreign minister had to put out a statement asking Britons to stop applying for Irish citizenship. Are they all going to emigrate to Europe? Probably not, but this may turn out to be one solution for the ‘problem’ of immigration; the country may simply need more people to make up for those who have left.
