Canadian native Dr Scott Fitzsimmons partially agrees with Carney’s decision to renounce his citizenship
The decision made by Canada’s next Prime Minister Mark Carney to renounce his Irish citizenship is a politically responsive move according to a senior Limerick academic.
Canadian-born Dr Scott Fitzsimmons, agreed with Carney’s decision to revoke his citizenship “I can certainly understand Mark Carney’s decision to renounce his Irish citizenship. Like Mr. Carney, I am a dual citizen of Canada and Ireland. I would find it very difficult to renounce either one of my citizenships and I would not appreciate anyone trying to portray me as less than loyal to Ireland. But I feel that it would be a politically responsible decision for someone who will soon be the leader of a country to shed all official ties to other countries”.
Dr Scott Fitzsimmons, a lecturer in Politics and Public Administration at the University of Limerick compared Carney’s case to Stephane Dion. The politician held dual Canada-French citizenship whilst acting as leader of the liberal party for Canada in 2006, “The possibility that a prime minister could be perceived as having dual loyalties is likely a more salient issue now than in 2006 because we live in a more nationalistic era”.
Dion was heavily criticised for having dual citizenship but wanted to keep it as he felt it did not affect his dedication to the country.
Dr Fitzsimmons highlighted the cultural, political, and economic ties that Ireland and Canada share; “Our two peoples genuinely like each other and we have no reason to suspect that either country poses a threat to the other. With this in mind, I don’t think any critic of Mr. Carney could make a plausible case that his Irish citizenship means that he will ever put Ireland’s interests ahead of Canada.”
“I think Ireland’s politicians are generally quite reasonable people who understand that Mr Carney is only renouncing his Irish citizenship to avoid being wrongly portrayed as having dual loyalties,” stated Dr Fitzsimmons.
Minister for Agriculture, Food and Marine, Timmy Dooley discussed Carney’s decision to renounce citizenship, “If the Taoiseach of this country had citizenship in a number of other countries, I think the Irish people would want to know in the first instance that they are committed to the people to whom they are responsible to”
Fianna Fáil TD, Timmy Dooley will be flying to Canada as part of the Irish government’s annual St. Patrick’s Day diplomatic efforts.
Carney previously mentioned his pride in Irish heritage, which comes from a grandparent who emigrated to Canada from County Mayo. Carney obtained his Irish citizenship in the 1980s. According to ‘breakingnews’ Carney recently stated: “Irish heritage is a big part of who I am.”
Fianna Fail TD, Timmy Dooley concluded: “It’s wonderful that somebody of Irish heritage is now going to be the Prime Minister of Canada, that’s something to be welcomed.”