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NEW RESEARCH SHOWS that the number of people who were granted Irish citizenship in 2015 was almost half that of the peak in 2012.
Some 121,100 people became Irish citizens through naturalisation between 2005 and the end of 2015 according to the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
However, only 13,500 naturalisation certificates were issued to non-Irish nationals in 2015 – 46% lower than the 2012 peak, when 25,100 certificates were issued.
Naturalisation is the legal process by which a non-Irish citizens may acquire citizenship.
The latest Monitoring Report on Integration estimates that 45% of non-EU immigrants living in Ireland have Irish citizenship.
Education, employment and poverty
The ESRI report examined data from the national assessment tests at primary level education. It found lower reading scores among immigrants from non-English speaking backgrounds than their Irish peers at both second and sixth class.
Employment rates in 2015 were similar but slightly higher for Irish nationals (63%) than non-Irish nationals (60%). However, employment rates varied across national groups and the employment rate was very low for African nationals (around 40%).
More non-Irish nationals were living below the income poverty line (21%) compared to Irish nationals (16%) in 2014.
However, basic deprivation rates (enforced lack of two or more items relating to food, clothing, heating and family/social life) were similar for Irish and non-Irish, as was consistent poverty (being in income poverty and experiencing basic deprivation).
The research found that income poverty rates were particularly high for the non-EU group in 2014 (46%), and have increased in recent years.
The authors said some of this increase may be due to the high and increasing proportion of students in the non-EU population, as well as rising in-work poverty among this group.
Integration policy
Report author Dr Frances McGinnity said, “Notwithstanding the considerable progress made, challenges remain for Ireland in integrating its large numbers of new immigrants.”
Minister of State with special responsibility for Equality, Immigration & Integration David Stanton said:
We now have people from over 199 countries living in Ireland and the changing ethnic, linguistic and faith-based composition of our population presents many opportunities and challenges to policy-makers, institutions and local communities.
“It is crucial that we get our integration policy right. Our aim must be to ensure that Ireland remains a society in which all persons are welcomed and valued as individuals, regardless of their background, race, colour or creed.”
He added that the report is “deepening our understanding of the Ireland of today so that we can build an Ireland of tomorrow which enables migrants and non-migrants alike to forge better lives for themselves and for their families”.
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We should dispatch a Minister next year to Pyongyang for Paddys’s day. Maybe all of them! :)
Both countries run by lunatics !
Really good report. Very few people would have expected a connection with Ireland.
There’s always connections between countries FFS
I was in Pyongyang for a week back in September and our young “minder” didn’t even know where Ireland was so don’t assume the average joe gets to read those reports on the press site. There is no Internet but there is a special intranet which the students in the library can use to look up stuff about the “imperialist” USA. Have to say it was a bizarre week!
Don’t forget, plenty of members of the Workers’ Party, which had links to the USSR, are now high-profile members of the Labour Party.
de Rossa’s letter looking for £1 million is a good example:
http://irishelectionliterature.wordpress.com/2010/07/08/1986-letter-from-the-workers-party-to-the-communist-party-of-the-soviet-union-cpsu-looking-for-funds/
Sssush Ciaran .. some people don’t want to mention these things anymore :-/
Do ‘special activities’ include oifig an phoist and men in balaclava’s or a sponsored silence or what?
Reply from the CPSU your request for 1 million has been granted!!! “Will denomination’s of $100.00 dollar bills be OK ? See you in North Korea …have an empty suit case handy….good luck getting all those Worker Party , Democratic Left now Labour leaders & TD’s elected..see you at the next Lost Revolution Conference!!!!
Wonder what Michael D thought of getting congratulated by Kim Jong
In the 2009 St Patrick’s day greeting, Mr Kim (or his press secretary) seems to be under the impression that the former President was male: “Kim … wished the President … success in his work for the prosperity of Ireland.”
By 2010, the confusion seems to have mounted as Mr Kim opted not to identify Comrade MacAleese with any gender: “… the message wished the Irish President success …”
Great article. Having some diplomatic ties or exchanges between ourselves and countries like DPRK is certainly not something to be embarrassed about. You can’t moan about the insular and secretive nature of such states and in the same vein decry the fact that some degree of civility exists between the two, regardless of politics.
It is better to take many small steps in the right direction.. and all that
He’s no more a lunatic than George W. Bush
Well, both acted with impunity.. that’s where the similarities end, though.
They prob get a load of their info from President of the Korean Friendship Association, Alejandro Cao de Benos .. a Spaniard and total hack for the NK regime .. check out a documentary (I’m sure it’s on YouTube) called Friends of Kim .. you’ll see just how crazy he is
I was in North Korea at the end of November (must have been the last Paddy there before the Dear Leader crocked it!) and agree with Stephen above, most of the North Korean’s I spoke with hadn’t the first clue where Ireland was, never mind keeping a close eye on our current affairs.
Curiously we also did a tour to the museum that houses all the gifts from various nations to Kim Jong Il and there was some very fine Connemara marble on show courtesy of the Irish Workers Party’s trip there a few years back…nothing from Michael D yet, must be still in the post.
The DPRK was an interesting trip, would highly recommend it.
Yet again article of the week goes to Gav Reilly. Love reading his articles, he’s my favorite member of staff in the Journal.
I have heard the Koreans described as the Irish of the Orient – they’ve been under the yoke of a larger and more aggressive neighbour, plus they used to go abroad to work on building sites. While the north of both countries may be ruled by lunatics, it’s a lot easier to cross the border from Newry than Kaesong, and you won’t get thrown in prison for tuning into RTE.
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