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234 British nationals among 3,200 new Irish citizens at latest citizenship ceremonies

BRITISH people ranked fourth on the list of nationalities gaining Irish citizenship at the latest citizenship ceremonies in Dublin.

Monday’s ceremonies saw 3,200 people granted Irish citizenship, with most recipients coming from Poland (548).

However 234 were from Britain, with the Brexit effect a likely contributor to the sharp rise in applications.

To the end of September this year, there were 624 applications from British nationals seeking Irish citizenship.

That is almost 14 times the number of applications from just three years ago in 2014, when only 46 people from Britain applied for Irish citizenship – a 1,250 per cent increase.

The number of applications from British nationals in 2015 was 72 – that jumped to 573 in 2016, the year of the Brexit referendum in Britain.

Monday’s 234 recipients from Britain join the 292 British nationals who have so far received Irish citizenship in 2017.

The Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) anticipates that applications from British citizens will continue to increase as Brexit proceeds.

'Welcome to our national family'

Monday’s ceremonies at the Convention Centre in Dublin – the third citizenship event of the year – were rescheduled from last month when they had to be postponed due to Storm Ophelia.

Addressing the new Irish citizens, Minister for Justice and Equality, Charlie Flanagan TD, said: "It is a great privilege for me to be here on this very special day, the day on which Irish citizenship will be formally conferred on you during this simple but solemn ceremony.

“My earnest wish for each and every one of you, 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.

"The possibilities opened up to you in Ireland today are almost limitless; one day, you or a child or grandchild of yours, may be up here as Minister for Justice, or as Judge, or perhaps the President of Ireland.

“I wish to congratulate you, one and all, on becoming our newest Irish citizens – we welcome you to our national family."

Today's ceremonies bring the total number of citizens to have received their Certificates of Naturalisation since citizenship ceremonies were first introduced in 2011 to 82,600.

If minors – who are not required to attend a ceremony – are included, the total granted Irish citizenship is over 110,000.

In total, nationals of 181 different countries have become Irish citizens since 2011.