6. REDUCTION AND PREVENTION OF STATELESSNESS As indicated above the 1961 Convention is the leading international instrument that provides rules for the conferral and withdrawal of citizenship to prevent cases of statelessness from arising. By adopting the 1961 Convention safeguards that prevent statelessness, states contribute to the reduction of statelessness over time. 6.1 Reduction of Childhood Statelessness A central focus of the 1961 Convention is the prevention of statelessness at birth by requiring states to grant citizenship to persons born on their territory, or born to their nationals abroad, who would otherwise be stateless. To prevent statelessness in such situations, states may grant nationality to children automatically at birth or upon application with the national authorities.121 States must also ensure that foundlings acquire a nationality.122 UNHCR notes that the rules for prevention of statelessness among children contained in the 1961 Convention must also be interpreted in light of other human rights treaties. In this regard Article 7 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) provides that:  ‘States Parties shall ensure the implementation of these rights [right to a name, nationality, and to know and be cared for by parents] in accordance with their national law and their obligations under the relevant international instruments in this field, in particular where the child would otherwise be stateless.’123 Article 3 of the CRC further requires that all actions concerning children, including in the area of nationality, must be undertaken with the best interests of the child as a primary consideration. The right of every child to acquire a nationality and the principle of the best interests of the child together create a presumption that states need to provide for the acquisition at birth or as soon as possible after birth, ideally by automatic acquisition of nationality at birth by a child otherwise born stateless in their territory, in accordance with Article 1(1)(a) of the 1961 Convention. In UNHCR’s view, automatic acquisition would be the best and safest way of avoiding childhood statelessness.124 In Ireland, section 6(3) of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956 provides that ‘a person born on the island of Ireland is an Irish citizen from birth if he or she is not entitled to citizenship of any other country.’125 This is a significant provision in granting citizenship to stateless children born on the territory of Ireland and goes towards meeting Action 2 of the Global Action Plan to ensure that no child is born stateless.126 While UNHCR contacted the relevant authorities in the Department of Justice during this research, no information was available on the practice surrounding this legislative provision. The Department of Justice did confirm that in order to benefit from the provisions of section 6(3) it must be established by, or on behalf of an applicant, that they are not entitled to 121 Article 1 of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. 122 Article 2 of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. 123 UN General Assembly, Convention on the Rights of the Child, 20 November 1989, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1577, p. 3, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b38f0.html 124 UNHCR Guidelines on Statelessness No. 4: Ensuring Every Child’s Right to Acquire a Nationality through Articles 1-4 of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, 21 December 2012, HCR/GS/12/04, available at http://www.refworld.org/docid/50d460c72.html para. 11; UNHCR, Global Action Plan to End Statelessness, 4 November 2014, Action 2, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/545b47d64.html, p. 13; UNHCR, Good Practices Paper - Action 2: Ensuring that no child is born stateless, 20 March 2017, available at: https://www.refworld. org/docid/58cfab014.html 125 Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956 as revised, Law Reform Commission, August 2021, available at: https://bit.ly/3hgttHB 126 Action 2: Ensure that no child is born stateless; UNHCR’s Global Action Plan to End Statelessness 2014-2024. UNHCR 33