As Inostranets reports, the new order was introduced after the High Court of the 'green island' refused two families the right to stay in the country a month ago, who sought citizenship on the grounds that their children were born there.
In 2002, more than 4,000 people from non-EU countries obtained Irish citizenship thanks to their children born in Ireland.
A representative of the Irish Ministry of Justice said that the new rules would not affect only those immigrant parents whose children were born in the country before September 2001. However, Ireland's Minister of Justice Michael McDowell somewhat reassured worried immigrants by saying that the authorities would not resort to mass deportation of those wishing to obtain local citizenship.