Over 3,500 people will become Irish citizens at special ceremonies in Killarney this week.
Four citizenship ceremonies will take place in the INEC over today and tomorrow (Tuesday, December 6th) in which applicants from over 130 countries will receive their certificates and take an oath of fidelity to the Irish State.
Three separate citizenship ceremonies will take place in the INEC today - at 11am, 2pm and 4.30pm.
A fourth ceremony will be held tomorrow at 11.30am, the final citizenship ceremony of the year.
Of the 3,500 people being conferred with Irish citizenship, 63 are from Kerry.
Minister of State James Browne will be presiding over today’s ceremonies, while Minister of State Anne Rabbitte will oversee tomorrow’s ceremony.
Retired High Court judge Bryan MacMahon and retired District Court judge Paddy McMahon are the presiding officers for both ceremonies, and they'll administer the Declaration of Fidelity to the Irish Nation and Loyalty to the State.
This week's ceremonies follow on from over 1,300 people becoming Irish citizen’s in June, at the first in-person ceremonies since the outbreak of COVID-19 over 2 years ago.
In July 2020, Ireland was the first European country to host an e-citizenship ceremony, and this was followed by three online celebrations last year.
