Dana has offered to renounce her American citizenship in a bid to save her Presidential election campaign – and claimed evidence given to an American court under oath was untruthful.
She has also told Irish national radio that the publicity surrounding her nationality could help the plight of the undocumented in America.
The Eurovision song contest winner – officially contesting this month’s election as Dana Rosemary Scallon – has been caught up in a row over her US passport for a week now.
Newspaper reports quoted claims made by her sister Diana Stein in a 2008 Iowa Court Case that Dana hid her American citizenship from the Irish electorate when she ran for President in the 1997 election.
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The evidence, given under oath during a family feud over recording rights, was repeated by Stein in a series of media interviews last week.
On Sunday however, Dana’s sister changed her story and stated publicly that Dana may only have been ‘applying’ for US citizenship when she ran in the 1997 election.
The singer then verified that remark when she admitted that she had taken up her US passport in 1999 and was now prepared to renounce it.
“I would have no problem giving up my US citizenship if that was the wish of the Irish people,” said Independent candidate Dana, currently last and way off the pace in the opinion polls.
“Taking up the dual citizenship has in no way impacted on my commitment to Ireland.
“The issue allows me to highlight the plight of undocumented Irish living in the shadows of American society.”
Confirming that she had pledged the oath that requires naturalized US citizens to renounce their allegiance to all other states, Dana said she was assured by US officials that she would not have to give up her Irish citizenship.
In the latest twist to the saga, Susan Stein has backed down on her Iowa court claims that Dana was already an American citizen in 1997 when she lost the Irish presidential election to Mary McAleese.
Stein has now admitted that Dana may only have been in the process of applying for citizenship at the time of the election while Dana has claimed the evidence presented in the 2008 Iowa court case was incorrect.
“What was said under oath in that trial was not correct. In fact, it took a little bit of time to copy the document, I’m not allowed to copy the document but I did copy a relevant part of it,” Dana told Irish radio yesterday.
Scallon then read out the text of her US naturalization certificate, issued in Atlanta, Georgia, on October 8, 1999.
She added: “It is for Rosemary Scallon, US emigration and naturalization service, in other words, when I became a citizen, and the date is October 8, 1999.”
A spokeswoman for Dana later said the singer would be happy to show the documents if asked but isn’t in a position to publish it. “It is punishable by law to copy, print or photograph without lawful authority,” she said.
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.gobdawpaddy | Oct 12, 2011, 06:10 AM EDT
Yeah BARNEYKX, this salary is more than the president of the United States gets, a person who technically could annihilate half the world at fifteen minutes notice. In contrast, the person who occupies the Aras can't scratch their liatroidi without first getting the permission of the government. I wou;d be curious to see a breakdown of the expenses. The Irish presidency is an expensive joke and should be abolished.
BARNEYKX | Oct 12, 2011, 12:24 AM EDT
I read in today's Sunday Independent that the Dept of Finance confirmed the 2010 President's salary as 325k and expenses paid to her in 2010 as 317k. Was she paying for aviation fuel or what! THATS WHAT DANAS AFTER THE DOUGH
abhainn | Oct 10, 2011, 07:27 PM EDT
1. There is no mechanism for renouncing US citizenship. 2. Despite widespread statements to the contrary, *naturalized* American citizens may not hold dual citizenship: They swear an oath of allegiance to the US and explicitly renounce former citizenship; the oath contains no loopholes. 3. Rosemary Scallon was formerly British and Irish, but she swore the oath and now is neither; she is American only. 4. She will not be elected president of Ireland but if she were, it would create a constitutional crisis because only Irish citizens can be president and any Irish citizen could challenge the election result in court based on Scallon's non-Irish nationality. 4. Eamon de Valera had dual citizenship because he was *born* in the US; he was not naturalized. 5. Rosemary Scallon made her choice and took the oath: Legally, she is no longer an Irish woman. The matter is clear: Read the oath yourself.
JBRAFTREE | Oct 10, 2011, 07:24 PM EDT
Don't know much about her, but, anyone that renounces their U. S. citizenship without a bit of a fight, I don't believe to be for the people.
sirpeter | Oct 10, 2011, 05:54 PM EDT
Creakygate you just have it in for Dana because she pipped the Brits in the Eurovision that year.Is Mary Hopkin still knocking I wonder? *Sings* Knock!! Knock!! whose theeere?!!!Second but no cigar. Tee-hee
Towngate | Oct 10, 2011, 01:03 PM EDT
Gobs: Go? ~ She already a goner! What a shyster! ~ Not even the Pope can't save her plan for holey Ireland now!
Springfield9 | Oct 10, 2011, 12:05 PM EDT
"Dev" had dual citizenship, fer Christ's sake!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
gobdawpaddy | Oct 10, 2011, 08:26 AM EDT
Can you imagine the headlines in papers across the USA if she were to renounce her US citizenship? Today she threatened that if prying into her family life continued, she would pull out of the 'race'. GO Dana GO,