EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum is delighted to support the Department of Justice by hosting the December Citizenship Celebratory Event.
Becoming a citizen of Ireland is a special occasion. The Department of Justice feel it’s important to offer people the opportunity to celebrate their new citizenship in a meaningful way, so they have planned a very special virtual celebration event to welcome over 3,500 people who recently received their Irish citizenship.
This is a virtual celebratory event to welcome some of Ireland’s newest Citizens who have received certificates of naturalisation through the temporary statutory declaration process announced in January. Over 3,500 new citizens have been invited to attend this event virtually.
This will be the third virtual event to welcome new citizens following the success of the ceremonies in April and July.
The event will be hosted by Minister for Justice Helen McEntee. Present will also be retired High Court Judge, Mr. Justice Bryan McMahon, in attendance who would, in normal circumstances, preside over the citizenship ceremonies, along with video contributions from new Irish citizens.
The event itself will be live streamed from the EPIC Irish Emigration Museum and will feature musical performances and video contributions from some of Ireland’s new citizens, as well as from the Garda Band and Irish musician John Spillane.
Since their establishment in 2011, citizenship ceremonies have been joyous occasions which mark the granting of Irish citizenships in a dignified manner and they have become a welcome addition to public and civic life.
On 18 January 2021, Minister Helen McEntee opened a temporary system which enables citizenship applicants to complete their naturalisation process by signing a statutory declaration of loyalty. This signed statutory declaration replaces the requirement for citizenship applicants to attend citizenship ceremonies, which have been temporarily suspended during COVID-19.
Since the temporary statutory declaration process opened, over 7,400 people have received their certificates of naturalisation.
This event will be live streamed on the Department of Justice’s social media channels – Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.