This article is from page 2 of the 2011-12-13 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 2 JPG
THE long wait finally ended for 10 Clare people who were granted Irish citizenship on Friday. The group were among a crowd of over 600 people who attended a citizenship ceremony in Cork.
The ceremony was organised by the Department of Justice and Equality and saw people from 77 different countries granted citizenship. Attendees took an oath of fidelity to the nation and received their certificate of naturalisation.
Husband and wife Leonardo Gonzalez and Aymara Ruiz were among the delighted group of people to be named as Ireland’s newest citizens. The Cuban natives, who have lived in Ennis for the past four years, say they are happy that the wait for citizenship is finally over.
“It was a great day for us,” said Aymara yesterday. Leonardo said the granting of Irish citizenship made him feel proud. “Today I am a free man” he said.
The Clare group comprised people mainly from Cuban, Chinese, Somali and Sudanese backgrounds, explained Orla Ni Eili, coordinator of the Clare Immigrant Support Centre. She said, “It’s a new feature that was brought in by Alan Shatter (Minister for Justice) to give the process of citizenship a bit more value, make it a bit more of an event.”
Ms Ni Eili explained that applicants must wait for a minimum of three years before receiving citizenship. However she said that, in some cases, people are waiting up to nine or 10 years.
“Some of the people from Clare who were in Cork on Saturday were waiting five years. There is a big backlog of applicant cases,” she added.