The Supreme Court will hear the appeal of a Brazilian woman, whose father is an Irish citizen, regarding the Government’s denial of her application to become a naturalised Irishwoman.
Danielle Caroline Cordeiro Sousa Diniz (31) sought permission from the court to appeal a judgment of the Court of Appeal, dismissing her appeal against an earlier decision of the High Court.
Diniz had appealed the decision made by the High Court and delivered in March 2023, refusing her application for a certificate of naturalisation under the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956, on the basis that she did not have a “compelling” discretionary case before the minister.
The court heard that Diniz was born in Brazil in 1995 and came to Ireland at the age of 11 in 2006.
She lawfully lived in the State as a dependant of her father and completed part of her primary education and all of her secondary education here, before returning to Brazil in 2012.
Diniz’s father, who had lived and worked in Ireland, became a naturalised Irish citizen in late 2012. Diniz also has two paternal uncles, a paternal aunt and two cousins who are Irish citizens resident in the State.
Diniz married in Brazil in 2017. She sought to return to Ireland and, following difficulties in securing a permission for her citizenship enabling her to reside in Ireland on a long-term basis, applied for naturalisation in January 2019. The court heard that the minister for justice denied her application, however.
Diniz invoked Section 16 of the 1956 Act, which expresses discretional permission for naturalisation in “rare, exceptional or compelling circumstances”.
The minister had accepted in the impugned decision that the applicant had “strong Irish associations” but said after considering her family associations, immigration history and residence, there were no “sufficient exceptional and compelling reasons” to warrant a recommendation that another element of the 1956 Act be waived, called Section 15 (1).
Section 15 (1) states that the Minister may, in his or her “absolute discretion”, grant naturalisation where the specified conditions are met.
In its determination to hear the matter, the Supreme Court wrote that Diniz relied upon the final sentence of article 2 of the Constitution, which provides that “the Irish nation cherishes its special affinity with people of Irish ancestry living abroad who share its cultural identity and heritage”.
The Supreme Court determined it was “satisfied that the application raises a matter of general public importance and that the interests of justice favour its determination”.