Question regarding the 1 year residence for Naturalization

Question

I am French and I have been living in Ireland for 7 years. Firstly as a student, then working in the country.

As you probably already know, since July 2019, there is a law that says "This includes 1 year (365 or 366 days) of continuous residence immediately before the date you apply." At first it meant you cannot leave the country WHATSOEVER for a full year, but when this came out, we heard a lot about this rules being reconsidered.

So what I am wondering now is, is it still the case? I know that for none-EU citizens, they can go abroad for about 20 days per year without problem and still get the citizenship through naturalisation. Also, "This includes 1 year of continuous residence" does not really sound clear to me, as when traveling abroad, we actually are still resident of Ireland. I've been going to France about 3 weeks to visit my family in the last year, but no other travels, do you believe my application could go through?

Thank you in advance for your help.

Answer 1

A judge ruled in July that this requirement may only be satisfied by 365 or 366 days of physical presence in Ireland. An appeal was scheduled for this month. It does not seem that the rule is different for EU citizens, but it was different before July, because there had been a policy in place that considered short trips abroad not to interrupt residence. The July ruling held that the policy was contrary to law.

do you believe my application could go through?

It seems very unlikely your application would succeed, since this is precisely what the judge said was not acceptable.

Without having looked in detail, and being unfamiliar with Irish law, I think that there is probably a decent chance of the ruling being overturned on appeal. I would certainly not apply before the appeal is decided if I were you, unless or until you have been in the country for a full year.