I’m a little confused. I recently discovered that my husband, who’s mother was born in Ireland, automatically becomes an Irish citizen, so is entitled to an EU passport.
I, as his spouse, can also apply for Irish citizenship but it seems I have to prove I’ve lived there for three years!
Has anyone else gone down this route, to enable them to move to France without all the palaver of visa’s etc?
That seems correct. The full info is on this Irish government website:
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I’m sure you’re probably already aware that as a non EU spouse accompanying an EU citizen moving to France, you wouldn’t need any visa. I am in a similar position, being married to an EU citizen. I found the 5 year carte de séjour/residence permit application process (now entirely online) to be fairly straightforward, and fairly light touch (certainly in comparison with standard French visa requirements).It is also fast tracked under EU rules, is free of charge, and there are no language tests or health checks required.
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In essence, you are right. However it’s not quite automatic. He will need to apply for an Irish passport and that will require his mothers original (or certified copies of) birth and marriage certificates plus some other documents.
My parents were born as UK citizens and then became Irish nationals. after independece. They emigrated to the UK at the start of WW2. When Britain decided to leave the EU I applied for an Irish passport and a Carte de Sejour, As I first came to France in 1995 I had an expired CDS but had to start from scratch. Both applications were made the same day and my Irish passport arrived first!
Gus
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I believe John le Carré did for the admirable reason of disillusionment with the UK “regime”.
I know you are just looking for practical advice, and why not? But I’m not sure I totally approve of adopting citizenships solely for convenience.
Really? Sometimes life is just too short to jump through the administrative hurdles that get thrown our way, especially post Brexit, so why not use the Irish route if it’s available and also perfectly legal?
My partner has an Irish passport due to her parents being of Irish roots and she avoids a vast amount of FR/UK bureaucracy by making best use of it.
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Well, it sort of depends on the value one puts of citizenship. If you told the French that you fancied being French so that you could avoid queues at the airport I don’t think they would be impressed.
What affinity do you (or indeed your partner) have with Ireland? I mentioned le Carré because he moved to Ireland, he bought a home in Ireland, he paid taxes in Ireland and he had friends in Ireland. He made a commitment.
You seem to be interested in being the hanger on of a hanger on. While it may be legal, or not, think that is disrespect for Irish citizenship.
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Hi Graeme, he’s just waiting for a copy of his parent’s marriage certificate, then he’s good to go 
Thank you, that’s how we see it. Sadly the UK is out of the EU and we’re getting a bit long in the tooth to be bogged down with various visas. So as a perfectly legal route, we’re taking it.
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Well John, all I can say is thank goodness you don’t make the rules 
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Thanks for that. We only discovered this “loophole” recently. We didn’t even consider it previously as his mother was born in N Ireland, but as you probably know it makes no difference. Born on the island of Ireland is all you need. Happy days 
Well, aren’t we the one for ad hominem attacks without evidence? To be frank in many of your posts on here you come across as one of those people who love to give out their opinions without a single thought for those who might have a different set of priorities or reasons and to assume negative connotations without even attempting to analyse what the facts actually are.
Calling my partner a “hanger on” without actually any facts shows you are a classic petty british keyboard warrior and I am glad I will never meet you in person.
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@MrC - the vast majority of the people on this board are kind, considerate, sympathetic and helpful.
However, some of us are quite opinionated and are keen to proclaim our views to the world. If these people rub you up the wrong way, it’s probably better to just ignore them as one would in real life. Other opinions are readily available 
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I am an Irish citizen and passport holder, as my maternal grandparents were from Ireland (Bere Island, in Cork, in fact). Being a bona-fife European passport holder certainly makes life on Europe easier. I hope the Irish citizenship application goes well.
Edit to add: bona-fife should be bona-fide. I’m not Scots, I’m Irish!
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Hello @MrC . Having had similar issues before, I discovered (or rather I asked if) it was possible to block a particular person and found that it was. So I never see a post by that person. Also was able to block the Politics section.
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What I am not 100% certain about is the difference a spouse with an Irish passport has if you are visiting France rather than becoming a resident. @George1 has found the CdS route works, but as I understand it he is a resident. It seems to be different if you are simply accompanying your spouse for a 100 day holiday - but as I say, I am not sure.
In principle, after 3 months in France, the non-EU spouse should be requesting a carte de séjour. How strongly that’s enforced I don’t know but one could do an overnight in one of the neighbouring countries to break up the visit and retain evidence of having done so.
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We have friends, a French husband and a British wife whose mother is Irish, who did this. By all accounts, it was a bit more involved than she had first thought, but she got there in the end.
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Thanks for your support Brian
I’ll start looking a bit more in depth I think.