merrion street

3,000 new Irish citizens attend Citizenship Ceremonies in Convention Centre Dublin

2 October 2023

Minister for Justice Helen McEntee TD has today welcomed the granting of Irish citizenship to 3,000 new Irish citizens in three separate ceremonies taking place in the Convention Centre in Dublin.

The Ceremonies will see applicants from 131 countries around the world and living in all 32 counties on the island of Ireland being conferred as Irish citizens.

Speaking ahead of the first Ceremony today, Minister McEntee said,

“Attending Citizenship Ceremonies is always a unique privilege as Minister for Justice and I would like to warmly congratulate and welcome our newest citizens on this milestone day in their lives. Today marks the end of one journey and the beginning of an exciting new one for them.

The richness of our nation is not measured in our wealth, but in our people, in our differences, our similarities and our shared home here on this island.

Our new citizens enrich Ireland with their presence and our society reaps the benefits which they bring. By sharing their own unique cultures and traditions with us, our newest citizens become part of our communities and we are all the better for it.”

The Citizenship Ceremonies today follow three ceremonies held in Killarney in July and two ceremonies held in the RDS in Dublin in March. This means that over 11,000 people have now been conferred with citizenship this year with further ceremonies planned before the end of 2023.

Minister McEntee will attend all three ceremonies in the Convention Centre today and is looking forward to meeting as many of the new citizens as possible.

Minister McEntee continued;

I encourage each new citizen to embrace their civic duty and to become more engaged in Irish civil society. It is an essential aspect of life in Ireland. Active involvement in our local communities will ensure everyone has a voice and will help strengthen our democracy.

I give my best wishes to our new citizens and to their families as they embark on the next steps of their lives in Ireland and I look forward to meeting as many of them as possible today.”

The Presiding Officer at the Ceremonies is retired Bryan MacMahon who will administer the Declaration of Fidelity to the Irish Nation and Loyalty to the State.

The new Irish citizens also undertook to faithfully observe the laws of the State and to respect its democratic values.

Ends 

Additional information

3,039 successful applicants from 131 countries have been invited to receive Irish citizenship across three separate Ceremonies in the CCD on 2 October.

Citizenship ceremonies were first introduced in 2011 in order to mark the occasion of the granting of citizenship in a dignified and solemn manner. Since Citizenship Ceremonies were first introduced, there has been a total of 171 ceremonies (including 2nd October) with people from over 180 countries receiving their certificates of naturalisation.

To date approximately 165,000 people have received Irish citizenship since 2011. The figure of 165,000 includes the attendees at the October Ceremonies & applicants who received citizenship via the Declaration process introduced in response to the COVID pandemic, as well as minors who are not required to attend a Ceremony.