Press release
5,000 people to be conferred with Irish Citizenship in Killarney
Published on
Last updated on
Published on
Last updated on
Today and tomorrow, Ireland will welcome 5,000 people as new Irish citizens.
In six separate ceremonies being held over two days at the INEC in Killarney, successful applicants from 135 countries will receive their certificates of naturalisation, and take the oath of fidelity to the Irish State.
These special ceremonies are being held following the decision of the Court of Appeal in November, which clarified the law in relation to residency requirements for citizenship candidates. An earlier High Court decision had led to the postponement of Citizenship Ceremonies for most of the second half of 2019.
The Minister for Justice and Equality, Charlie Flanagan TD, welcomed Ireland’s newest citizens, and impressed upon them the importance of this day, which will be a milestone in their lives.
He said:
"The possibilities opened up to you in Ireland today are almost limitless; perhaps one day, you or a child or grandchild of yours, could be up here as a Government Minister, or as a Judge, or perhaps the President of Ireland."
The Presiding Officer for Monday’s ceremonies was retired High Court Judge, Bryan McMahon, who administered the Declaration of Fidelity to the Irish Nation and Loyalty to the State.
Retired Circuit Court Judge Paddy McMahon will preside at the ceremonies tomorrow and the Minister of State at the Department of Justice and Equality, Mr David Stanton, TD, will address the new citizens.
The new citizens undertake to faithfully observe the law of the State and respect its democratic values.
Addressing the new citizens at the ceremonies tomorrow afternoon, Minister of State with responsibility for Equality, Immigration and Integration, David Stanton TD, will note that:
"Today as you leave here, as proud new citizens of this Republic and constitutional democracy, our history is your history and, in turn, the narrative of your life is now part of our history."
This is the third year when large scale citizenship ceremonies have been held outside of Dublin.
Details of future ceremonies and the process for applying for citizenship can be found on www.inis.gov.ie.
Today’s ceremonies can be watched live here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGx62npdJ0Y&feature=youtu.be.
ENDS
At the ceremonies today in INEC, approximately 2,500 candidates will receive Irish citizenship. Tomorrow another 2,500 successful applicants will receive their certificates of citizenship. There will be three separate ceremonies on each day. The new citizens come from 135 separate countries, including 17 countries of the EU.
The INEC, Gleneagle Hotel Convention Centre, Killarney, is the new location for large scale citizenship ceremonies.
The INEC was the successful bidder in an open competitive tender for the provision of facilities and services for Citizenship ceremonies, advertised on the Government E-Tenders website in August 2017. The Department of Justice & Equality is currently engaged with the Office of Government Procurement to go to the market for a service provider for 2021 onwards.
The first large-scale conferring ceremonies of new Irish citizens to be held in Killarney was on 21 May 2018 in the Gleneagle Hotel Convention Centre (INEC). There were 3 separate ceremonies held on the day. Since then, there have been a further 3 days where multiple ceremonies were held in the INEC and grand total of 10,900 people have received their certificates of citizenship since May ’18 in Killarney.
The ceremonies to take place on the 2nd and 3rd of March, 2020 will see an additional 5,000 people conferred in 6 separate ceremonies presided over by the retired High Court judge, Mr Bryan McMahon and the retired District Court judge, Mr Paddy McMahon. Theis will bring the total to almost 16,000, the number of people conferred citizenship at ceremonies in Killarney since 2018.
Each successful applicant is permitted one guest to accompany them to the ceremony. However, it is understood that many of our new citizens bring additional people to celebrate their conferment after the ceremony itself.
Since the introduction in 2011 of ceremonies to confer citizenship on large numbers of applicants, 132,000 people from 180 countries have been granted certificates of citizenship. That figure includes the 5000 people who are receiving their certificates on March 2nd and 3rd.
Since the ceremonies were first introduced, there has been a total of 151 ceremonies held (including this week’s ceremonies)
The top 10 nationalities of persons receiving their certificates of citizenship over the next two days are outlined below.
| Nationality | 2 March | 3 March | Total | |
| 1 | United Kingdom | 531 | 451 | 982 |
| 2 | Poland | 367 | 348 | 715 |
| 3 | Romania | 249 | 247 | 496 |
| 4 | India | 179 | 191 | 370 |
| 5 | Nigeria | 114 | 87 | 201 |
| 6 | Brazil | 89 | 82 | 171 |
| 7 | Latvia | 62 | 76 | 138 |
| 8 | Philippines | 58 | 79 | 137 |
| 9 | China (including Hong Kong) | 69 | 44 | 113 |
| 10 | United States of America | 59 | 54 | 113 |
*The figures above are correct as at time of publication – actual numbers on day(s) may vary slightly due to late withdrawals and/or late confirmations of attendance.