Marguerite Hogg has always had an affinity with Ireland because of her Dublin-born father, and she has felt this more acutely since his death.
But her interest in applying for an Irish passport has intensified following the British vote to leave the European Union last year.
The 46-year-old West Yorkshire woman voted Remain in last year's Brexit referendum. She wanted to stay in the union, because she has worked throughout her career on EU projects in the area of education.
Hogg has the application form for her Irish passport and intends to apply along with her five siblings. She also hopes to apply for a “foreign birth registration” for her son so he can eventually become an Irish citizen too.
"It is about keeping options open for myself and my son to be able to travel freely through the European Union so the doors aren't closed after Brexit, " she said.
“We have been talking for a long time about claiming our dual citizenship. It is something that we felt more strongly about since the Brexit vote.”
Friends and colleagues, she says, are envious that she and her family can avail of a European passport through Irish citizenship. Her family has always felt essentially Irish, she says.
“We might not speak with an Irish accent but our father was Irish and we have got Irish roots,” she said. “We may have been living in Yorkshire but by God we were Irish.”
