May's 'settled status' will not apply to the Irish

Theresa May announced yesterday that EU nationals with five years’ or more of continuous residence in the UK will be able to apply for "settled status" post-Brexit, allowing them to live, work, study and claim benefits within the UK. The rights will be similar to the ones they enjoy now, and will be enshrined by some form of ID card.

According to the BBC, "those arriving after the cut-off point will be able to stay temporarily".

However, the proposed rules will not apply to Irish citizens, Dublin’s newstalk.com says.

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The UK government's official document regarding the matter of settled status specifically declares that the new regulations on EU citizens will not override the Ireland Act. "Our proposals as set out below are without prejudice to Common Travel Area arrangements between the UK and Ireland, and the rights of British and Irish citizens in each others’ countries rooted in the Ireland Act 1949," it says.

"These arrangements reflect the long-standing social and economic ties between the UK and Ireland and pre-date both countries’ membership of the EU. As such, we want to protect the Common Travel Area arrangements, and Irish citizens residing in the UK will not need to apply for settled status to protect their entitlements."

According to BBC Reality Check, there are around 331,000 Irish nationals living in the UK at the time of the EU referendum, the second-largest group of migrants after the Polish.