Waterford welcomes 130 new citizens as record number of decisions made citizenship applications

A record number of people have received decisions on Irish citizenship applications this year, with 130 new citizenships having been given to people in Waterford.

More than 6,000 new Irish citizenships were conferred on Monday and Tuesday, December 2 and 3, at ceremonies in Killarney, Co Kerry - including to Irish rugby star Bundee Aki.

Applicants from 140 countries across the world and across all 32 counties on the island of Ireland, received citizenships.

Data rom the Department of Justice indicated the latest round of ceremonies saw the annual total rise above 30,000 for the first time ever, equating to a 50 per cent rise on the 20,000 decisions made in 2023, and nearly double the number of decisions made in 2022.

The most common nationalities to be awarded citizenship were India (1,147), the United Kingdom (636), Brazil (609) and Romania (494).

The 130 new citizenships conferred to people living in Waterford was the 10th highest for a county in Ireland.

The most citizenship decisions were made in County Dublin at 2,836, while the rebel county comes in second place to the capital, with 723 decisions made in County Cork.

In County Kildare, 504 citizenship decisions were made while Meath and Galway were tied in 4th, with both seeing 337 citizenship decisions being made this time around.

The six counties in Northern Ireland made up six of the bottom seven counties, sorted by citizenship decisions, with the availability of applications for Irish or British citizenship.

To date, in excess of 190,000 people have received Irish citizenship since 2011 during citizenship ceremonies. Applicants are required to have five years of reckonable residence in the country to be eligible for the programme.

Speaking ahead of the recent ceremonies, Justice Minister McEntee said she would like to "congratulate all of our newest Irish citizens, as well as their family and friends joining them on this special day."

"I encourage our new citizens to continue to contribute to building inclusive communities," she said.

"In forging connections between our cultures, we can enrich our social fabric," she added, before commenting: "Our new citizens play an essential role in fuelling growth in our economy. They also contribute immensely to industries where we have labour shortages like construction, agriculture and healthcare. They also make our workforce more diverse and inclusive.”