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In depth
The Good Friday Agreement (1998), formally the Belfast Good Friday Agreement, is the peace accord that ended the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Among its provisions, the Agreement confirms the right of people in Northern Ireland to identify as Irish, British, or both, and to hold citizenship accordingly.
For CBD purposes, this means an ancestor born in Belfast, Derry, or anywhere in Northern Ireland qualifies you for the Irish Foreign Births Register, with the same rights as an ancestor born in Dublin or Cork.
The Good Friday Agreement is recognized in both Irish and British law, and is protected by an international treaty between the UK and Ireland.
Related terms
The Foreign Births Register (FBR) is the official record maintained by Ireland's Department of Foreign Affairs of people born outside Ireland who are entitled to Irish citizenship by descent.
GRONI (General Register Office Northern Ireland) is the government office that maintains vital records for Northern Ireland, equivalent to the GRO in the Republic.
The grandparent rule is the most common path to Irish citizenship by descent: having one grandparent born on the island of Ireland (including Northern Ireland) qualifies you for the Foreign Births Register.
The GRO (General Register Office) is the Irish government office that maintains records of births, deaths, marriages, and civil partnerships in the Republic of Ireland.
The Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956, as amended, is the principal Irish citizenship law that governs the Foreign Births Register and other paths to Irish citizenship.
A post-nuptial declaration is a historic Irish citizenship path for foreign spouses who married Irish citizens before certain dates, allowing them to claim Irish citizenship through marriage.