Very interesting to learn, without much surprise, that the USA pressured the UK into changing the rules about recruiting Irish citizens. Despite being born in Dublin I served as a pilot in the RAF for some 20 years, reached "senior" office rank and had great fun. One job involved Positive Vetting for Top Secret clearance. The Security people nearly had a fit when I listed one of my uncles as "Captain. Irish Republican Army (Retired)" and another as "General. Indian Army (Retired)." I did get my clearance!
I worked with the USAF during my RAF service. Two of my sons are USAF retired and highly decorated. I had an open visa on my UK passport and travelled frequently to the USA -- until 9/11. Then I was told that because my UK passport showed Irish birth and British SUBJECT status I would have to go personally to the US Embassy in London for interview before visa issue for each trip to the USA. One of my Intel. friends said, "Don't bother with that. Just get an Irish passport and you don't need a visa to go to the US." He was right -- and the Irish passport was FREE!
