Facts:
The applicant was a child whose father submitted an application for naturalisation on her behalf under section 15 of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956. The Minister refused the application on the basis that the applicant’s father did not satisfy the “good character” requirement because he had a number of convictions. The applicant’s mother challenged the decision to refuse her daughter’s naturalisation application. The Minister argued that as a child cannot submit an application for naturalisation on their own behalf, but can only do so through a parent or guardian, then the statutory conditions for naturalisation had to be met by the parent or guardian as they were the “applicant” for the purposes of section 15 of the 1956 Act.
