merrion street

Minister Shatter addresses a Citizenship Ceremony last year at the Convention Centre

Justice Minister Alan Shatter today addressed Citizenship ceremonies to welcome 4,100 new Irish citizens.

Four ceremonies were held at the Dublin Convention Centre, with new citizens from over 120 nations, including Syria, Egypt, Australia and South Sudan. 140 of those granted citizenship were also granted political asylum by the State.

The Minister said:

Many of you have travelled a long road to get to this point in your life.  Some of you here have travelled a great distance to settle and reside in our country. Without doubt, some of you have travelled a long and arduous road with many twists and turns before arriving at this day.  But today you have all reached your destination – Irish citizenship.

While your presence at this ceremony today marks the end of the citizenship process, you are also at the beginning of a new journey and a new phase of your life as our newest Irish citizens.

My earnest wish for each and every one of you here today as you embark on this new phase, is that it will be a journey full of hope and full of optimism with a bright new future as members of the great Irish global family.