Record numbers receive Irish Citizenship decisions in 2024

This year will see a record number of people take the final steps towards receiving their Irish citizenship, with over 30,000 decisions made in 2024. The numbers represent a significant increase on the 20,000 decisions made in 2023 and is nearly double the number of decisions made in 2022.

This Monday and Tuesday alone, over 6,000 new Irish citizens will be granted citizenship in seven ceremonies being held at the INEC Killarney.

The Ceremonies will see applicants from 140 countries around the world, and living in 32 counties on the island of Ireland, being conferred as Irish citizens.

Speaking ahead of the ceremonies, Minister McEntee said:

The Presiding Officers at the ceremonies over the next two days are retired Justice Paddy McMahon, and retired President of the High Court, Mary Irvine, who will confer the attendees with Irish Citizenship. Both will administer the Declaration of Fidelity to the Irish Nation and Loyalty to the State. The new Irish citizens will undertake to faithfully observe the laws of the State and to respect its democratic values.

Significant changes have been introduced in the Citizenship Division of the Department of Justice to speed up the application process for applicants, including the introduction of an online digital application, online payments, and eVetting.

Going forward, it is envisaged that the majority of applications based on residency will receive a decision within 12 months.

It is important to note that no two applications are the same, and some take longer than others to process. Applicants are required to have 5 years reckonable residence in the State prior to making an application. More information on the application process.

Citizenship Division has held 24 citizenship ceremonies this year, an increase from the 15 ceremonies held last year, and the 6 that were held in 2022.

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 197 Ceremonies (inclusive) with people from over 180 countries receiving their certificates of naturalisation.

To date, over 191,000 people have received Irish citizenship since 2011.

The figure of 191,000 includes todays attendees & applicants who received citizenship via the Declaration process introduced in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as minors who are not required to attend a Ceremony.

Top 10 nationalities of applicants

Applicants by county