Referendum campaign: The Methodist Church in Ireland has called on voters to reject the change proposed in the citizenship referendum. The church is the first of the four main churches to take a position on the referendum.
In a statement yesterday, the church's Council on Social Responsibility said it believed the referendum to be "ill-judged", and would have "unfortunate consequences".
Describing the measure as "a drastic change from what has been the norm since 1921, and from what is the norm in common-law countries internationally", it said it was "perceived by many refugees, asylum-seekers and non-national immigrants as being racially or ethnically-motivated".
Census figures for 2002 show that Methodist numbers in the Republic doubled to 10,000 over the previous decade. The increase has been attributed to immigrants, with research by the Irish Council of Churches finding that, proportionately, the Methodist Church has, of the four main churches, benefited most from immigration.
In yesterday's statement, the Council for Social Responsibility said the proposed change had been "brought forward without full analysis of the full range of issues around citizenship".
It added: "To take just one simple example, what are the relative merits of granting citizenship to someone whose grandfather or grandmother was born here, but who has had no active contact with Ireland for several generations, as against someone without that 'link' but who has actually been born here.
"It is not clear to us why the former case is deemed to be obvious, and the latter case deemed to be a problem."
The council noted "in particular the concerns expressed by the human rights commissions, North and South", and was "also extremely concerned about the over-simplification of the issues and the lack of concern for the social and personal circumstances involved".
It believed the referendum to be a rushed proposal, without adequate consideration and debate. "We are not convinced that this particular feature of citizenship needs urgent attention at this time rather than a more detailed analysis of citizenship, with full regard to all the ramifications."
It believed that, "irrespective of its intent, that it is in practice racist in nature, and may well also inflame racist tendencies".
It also neglected "the naturally changing demographics in Ireland, and the real issues arising from that which need to be addressed".
The council felt it was "another step in the unfortunate pattern in recent years of addressing the increased pattern of immigration in a legalistic and minimalist manner, rather than being more open and generous to those seeking a better life here".
It did not regard the Constitution "as the right place to deal with such complex social and legal issues unless proven absolutely unavoidable".
