"I ... of ... having applied to the Minister for Justice and Equality for a certificate of naturalisation, hereby solemnly declare my fidelity to the Irish nation and my loyalty to the State."
FIDELITY TO the nation, and loyalty to the State? Any difference? Dictionaries define both concepts as almost identical in terms of "faithfulness", making the repetition in the oath of citizenship a largely redundant rhetorical gesture, although the latter also, perhaps strangely in this context, can also carry a connotation of "enthusiastic devotion" ( SOED). Are our new citizens really being exhorted to manifest a greater degree of emotional commitment to the State than they are required to show to the nation?
Perhaps there is a frail logic here, however. While our new citizens sign up to Irishness, the notion is significantly more embracing and less exclusive than it might have been in the past. So a Bangladeshi new citizen, may quite legitimately come to see himself/herself as Bangladeshi-Irish, just as a London-Irish, or Kerry-Irish, or even European-Irish self-description may best represent the reality of multifaceted identity. And rightly so. Diversity and tolerance of difference have to be essential ingredients in any modern definition of Irishness.
Loyalty to the State, however, is another matter, brooking no equivocation or ambiguity, no subordination or overriding fealty to another. And it carries specific responsibilities, like bearing arms when the State come under threat, observing the law, or treating neighbours as you would be treated yourself.
And most importantly, a moral obligation to participate fully and critically in civic life, voting, joining, speaking out, if necessary marching (and letter-writing to The Irish Times). "Bad officials are elected by good citizens who do not vote," the American drama critic George Jean Nathan once wrote, echoing Gunther Grass's injunction that "the job of a citizen is to keep his mouth open." Mark Twain also put it well: "Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it."
Alan Shatter’s new citizenship ceremonies, which have signed up some 2,000 in the past two days, are a public embrace of our new citizens, as much an acknowledgment by us of their value to our community, as a solemn expression by them of their loyalty and fidelity.
They are most welcome to the club. Oh, and did we mention the trifling matter of a national debt?