The Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee TD, and the Minister of State for Law Reform, James Browne, TD, will have a virtual citizenship ceremonies occasion this evening (Tuesday 27 April) to welcomed Ireland’s newest citizens in excess of 1,700 individuals who have gotten their Irish citizenship since another transitory interaction was opened on 18 January.
The ceremony is an integral part of the citizenship process with applicants required to attend the ceremony usually held in Killarney but it was on Zoom because of the restrictions on large gatherings. this ceremony was unable to conduct last year because of the Covid19 but this time government arrange it virtually on 27th April in Dublin’s Mansion House.
the celebration featured stories from some of the 1,700 people who are new citizens, including Dr Naveed Abbas who has worked on the frontline as a Doctor in Portlaoise. Dr Naveed Abbas, who is originally from Pakistan, said he did not expect to be so emotional when watching the celebration online and sent the Zoom link to many of his relatives and friends who also watched. He said his citizenship process has taken him almost five years, which was much longer than he expected.
The Minister for Justice said the department is working on the backlog of citizenship applications, that has been built up just in the last year, we have engaged with 4,000 people to date and by June we hope to have engaged with over 6,500 people,”.
Source RTE
