citizenship of any other country. The condition of ‘not being entitled to citizenship’ should not be interpreted so narrowly as to deny citizenship to a child whose right to citizenship through their parent(s) is legally recognized by another country, but who cannot acquire citizenship of that other country in practice. In this regard the UNHCR Handbook on Stateless Persons states “An individual’s nationality is to be assessed as at the time of determination of eligibility under the 1954 Convention. It is neither a historic nor a predictive exercise.”127 There have been at least four successful applications of this provision on behalf of a stateless child, one in 2020, another in 2021 and two in 2022.128 Although the wording in section 6(3) of the 1956 Act appears to indicate automatic application of citizenship, in practice, persons requesting citizenship on this basis apply to the Minister for Justice for a certificate of nationality pursuant to Section 28 of the 1956 Act. In such situations the Minister for Justice, or a government official on her behalf, must be satisfied that the applicant concerned ‘is an Irish citizen, and the issue of the certificate is necessary in all circumstances of the case’ and they then may issue a certificate of nationality accordingly. As there is no clearly prescribed formal procedure in place for applications under Section 6(3) it can be difficult to know what considerations are taken into account to deem that a certificate of nationality is necessary in the circumstances of an individual case. When contacted, the Department of Justice indicated that normally certificates of nationality are not issued on this basis and that individuals falling within the scope of section 6(3) of the 1956 Act are advised to proceed straight to the Passport Office. However, when the Passport Office was contacted during this study, they indicated that stateless persons, including children, would require that status be confirmed by the citizenship unit of the Department of Justice before issuing a national passport. Section 10 of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956 provides for the citizenship of foundlings in stating that ‘every deserted newborn child first found in the State shall, unless the contrary is proved, be deemed to have been born in the Island of Ireland to parents at least one of whom is an Irish citizen.’ However, like section 6(3), there is no established procedure regarding the application of this legislative provision in practice nor are any statistics available on its use. The Department of Justice reported that each application is judged on its individual merits, strictly in accordance with the provisions of the relevant legislation. The Department was unaware of this provision for foundlings being applied since 2014. The European Network on Statelessness (ENS) highlighted the following concerns in relation to this provision:  “It is unclear if the provision on foundlings applies to older children, and the lack of regulation of all forms of assisted human reproduction may have consequences for some children, particularly children of same-sex couples born abroad and if the Irish parent is not a birth parent.”129 The absence of clear procedures for the application of section 6(3) and 10 of the Citizenship Act 1956 invariably means that persons may need to seek judicial review in the superior courts to access a remedy in their individual situation. UNHCR recommends that automatic acquisition of nationality at birth for a child who is otherwise stateless or a foundling is the most efficient way to avoid childhood statelessness. 34 127 UNHCR’s Statelessness Handbook, para. 50. 128 Berkeley Solicitors, Stateless Child born in Ireland granted a Certificate of Nationality, available at: https://bit.ly/3iJhmDh; Berkeley Solicitors, Client of Berkeley Solicitors granted a Certificate of Nationality for their minor stateless child, available at: https://bit.ly/3hc3bGI 129 ENS Statelessness Index Country Briefing, October 2021, Ireland, available at: https://bit.ly/3PhXgwa Mapping Statelessness in Ireland