Hey folks <BR>In Ireland soccer and football are not the same game so obviously you aren't drinking enough Guinness or praying hard enough. In Ireland football is Gaelic football and soccer is well soccer or what the rest of the world calls football but give me gaelic anyday. By the way the only other advantage of having an irish passport is that ireland is a neutral country and thus travelling on Irish passport at times is easier, <BR> <BR>Cathy

DO NOT play passport roulette if you have a U.S. and European passport. I just talked to someone in Immigration, and they said that is very much frowned upon, and can get you into some serious trouble. Use the same passport leaving the country as you do coming into the country. <BR> <BR>The U.S. requires new citizens from CERTAIN countries to give up their passports. However, you usually can get the passport back at a later date. My husband is in the process of becoming a U.S. citizen. He holds a British pasport, but could hold an Irish one if wanted, as he's from Northern Ireland (he got the British one solely because it required less paperwork when we got married. Go figure). He will have to give up his British passport to get his American one, but then he is eligible to re-apply for either an Irish or British passport. <BR> <BR>Since I'm married to him, and his mother was born before 1922 (or is it 21?) in Northern Ireland, I can apply for an Irish passport. I do not have to give up my American citizenship to get the Irish passport.