The UK law now dictates that people born in Northern Ireland are automatically British, and not Irish.
There are two rallies set take place in Belfast and London in an attempt to raise awareness of British law which claims to take precedent over the Good Friday Agreement.
Previously, under the agreement, citizens born in Northern Ireland with one British or Irish parent had the right to identify as British or Irish citizens, or both.
However, a new ruling from the UK Home Office has now stated that people born in Northern Ireland are British, and they must renounce their British citizenship in order to claim their Irish citizenship.
The rallies are set to take place at midday today (Saturday 20 April), with one taking place outside City Hall in Belfast, and the other set to happen at the Northern Ireland office in London.
There had been discussions as to whether to cancel the rallies in light of the murder of Lyra McKee, but rally organsier Emma DeSouza took to Twitter to talk about the rallies still going ahead:
“It was an extraordinarily difficult decision as to whether or not to go forward with the We Are Irish Too rallies after the devastating loss of Lyra McKee last night in Derry. I mean, you can feel it across the country, there is such an outpouring of grief over what has happened. I am heartbroken over what has happened, but we have made the decision to go ahead with the rallies.”
Full details for the Belfast rally can be found here, and the London rally here.
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