If one citizenship is by birthright, and the second is after taking an oath, then the issue is whether forswearing allegiance to the state or sovereign where the birthright resides implies losing the birthright. Given that Ireland is a Republic with a strong "right of return" tradition, whether due to emigration or partition, that seems unlikely for someone born in Ireland becoming a naturalized US citizen.

Becoming a US citizen while holding an office in the Republic requiring an oath to defend and uphold the Irish Constitution would seem to clearly violate that oath.

But the rest of the US oath is a series of forward looking promises. The Irish oath of office would seem to not be intrinsically violated by the promises to meet those obligations under the US oath of naturalized citizenship, but only potentially. If an occasion arises in which they are in conflict, the office holder would at that point have to decide whether to renounce the US citizenship, to resign the Irish office, or to try to get away with being a scumsucking oathbreaker.

So long as you have abided by the demands of the two oaths, the fact that it might not have been possible to abide by the demands of both oaths at the same time is a hypothetical conflict.


I've been accused of being a Marxist, yet while Harpo's my favourite, it's Groucho I'm always quoting. Odd, that.