Different rules/procedure for new EU citizens (for less than 5 years)

Question

Can anyone please explain what this document's page 5 second paragraph means:

"If you are an EU citizen for less than five years please submit copy of your passport showing permission to remain stamps from date of arrival in the State to date of becoming an EU citizen and proof of residence in the State from date of becoming an EU citizen to date of application. Please submit three different proofs of residence for each year showing name and address for this period i.e. mortgage/rent agreement, household bills (gas, electricity, phone or cable/ satellite TV), bank statements, revenue letters, mortgage agreement, social welfare, letter from employment, etc."

Specifically the sentence in bold. Are rules different for naturalized EU citizens who have become EU citizens since not more than 5 years?

EDIT: You can find a note on this page too. What is it exactly?

"Note: To apply as a UK, EU/EEA & Swiss national, you must have been a UK, EU/EEA or Swiss national for more than 5 years. If not, you must apply as a non-EU/EEA & non-Swiss national."

Answer 1

The sentence doesn't suggest that different rules apply. To naturalize as an Irish citizen, you need to have resided in the country legally for five years. That's the requirement.

Due to the EU freedom of movement and related legislation, EU citizens do not need permission to reside in Ireland and do not get stamps on their passport. Therefore it doesn't make sense to ask them to submit “permission to remain stamps” covering these five years. In fact, some EU citizens might not even have a passport and do not need one to live in Ireland.

On the the other hand, third-country nationals do need permission to reside in Ireland. Therefore, they need a slightly different kind of evidence to establish that they satisfy the legal residence requirement during the last five years (namely the permission to remain stamps).

And if you weren't an EU citizen over the whole period, you need to submit evidence that you were indeed a legal resident before becoming an EU citizen. It is thefore necessary to submit a different kind of evidence for each period of residence in Ireland.

Note that these rules are outside the scope of the EU freedom of movement as naturalization is still fully a matter of national law. They have no bearing on your right to reside, live with your family, become a permanent resident, etc. in Ireland as an EU citizen. They wouln't impact a newly naturalized EU citizen moving to Ireland who ultimately decides to apply for Irish citizenship either.

This only impacts people who become EU citizens while they are already residing in Ireland. Given the rules for naturalization in other EU countries, that would be relatively rare, although it is possible (reintegration based on ancestry or naturalization for spouses do not always require residence, investment routes to citizenship typically have some light residence requirements but it's not impossible to skirt them).