{"id":67080,"date":"2025-09-16T06:58:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-16T06:58:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/67080\/"},"modified":"2025-09-16T06:58:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T06:58:09","slug":"thousands-receive-citizenship-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/67080\/","title":{"rendered":"thousands receive citizenship \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Carlha Callinan moved to Ireland from Colombia <\/a>eight years ago, and now lives in the Gaeltacht area of Spid\u00e9al<\/a>, Co Galway with her family. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m embracing the whole Irish culture,\u201d she says. \u201cI feel like, if you come to live in a different country to your own, your duty is to mix and to understand what is important for the people that live here. I\u2019m part of the community and I play Gaelic football.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her commitment to the community is evident. She is learning the Irish language and, having never played sport in her life, is involved in the Gaelic4Mothers&Others initiative with her local GAA<\/a> club. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was a bit scared in the beginning to move to the Gaeltacht because I don\u2019t speak Irish. But to be honest, they were super. They were celebrating every bit of Irish that I have. They were encouraging me to join [the GAA club].\u201d<\/p>\n

She was among 6,000 people who will receive their Irish citizenship in six ceremonies at Dublin\u2019s convention centre on Monday and Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Attending the ceremony with her husband, Brian Callinan, Carlha praises Irish culture for its openness and inclusivity. People here \u201clike the uniqueness of other people,\u201d she says. \u201cThey embrace that, which is something that you don\u2019t see in almost any country, to be honest.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brian wasn\u2019t expecting to feel emotional. That changed when Amhr\u00e1n na bhFiann was played by the Army band during the ceremony and he sang along. A Filipino man in the audience turned to thank him, having never heard the anthem sung before. <\/p>\n

It was an emotional day for Miria Gilchrist and her husband, Jonathan. They left New Zealand in 2000, planning on staying in this part of the world for five years. The couple settled in Roscommon near Carrick-on-Shannon in 2019. While Jonathan received his citizenship five years ago, it has been a long and difficult journey for Miria. <\/p>\n

\"MiriaMiria Gilchrist celebrates with her husband, Jonathan, following the ceremony. Photograph: Dara Mac D\u00f3naill \"EstherEsther Oyewusi, from Dublin, congratulates her mother Rebecca Ifesanmi, originally from Nigeria. Photograph: Dara Mac D\u00f3naill <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a very big day for me because I\u2019ve been in hospital with acute myeloid leukaemia, and I was only told a week ago today that I am in remission,\u201d she says. \u201cWhile I was in hospital, I had to turn down the citizenship ceremony three times. This is the fourth time and I finally was able to come. <\/p>\n

\u201cI had a stem cell transplant so I\u2019m doing really well. I couldn\u2019t believe I was actually here doing my citizenship because I\u2019ve wanted it for so long. Finally, the day came and it\u2019s just unbelievable. It\u2019s so surreal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miria came to Ireland 12 years ago for the first time. \u201cI loved it when I came here,\u201d she says. \u201cIt was just home, and it\u2019s never felt any different.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maya Chellan moved to Ireland from India and has been living in Cork for the past seven years. The musicality of the ceremony stood out for her. Flanking the Army band onstage was a Tricolour and a harpist.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel so proud and honoured to be an Irish citizen today,\u201d she says. \u201cThis is going to be a new chapter in my life. Ireland is so welcoming, and the people are so nice. To get the Irish citizenship and to feel Irish from today, I\u2019m so proud. I can\u2019t express today how I feel to be honest.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"ManjuManju Sasidharan and Maya Chellan following the citizenship ceremony. Photograph: Dara Mac D\u00f3naill <\/p>\n

Six years ago, Erika Paradas came to Ireland from Venezuela looking for another future for her two sons. They are now 18 and 20 and attending college. She is full of gratitude to the Irish people.<\/p>\n

\"ErikaErika Paradas, from Venezuela: ‘I feel so proud and honoured to be an Irish citizen.’ Photograph: Dara Mac D\u00f3naill <\/p>\n

\u201cThe future for us had to change because in Venezuela, it was difficult,\u201d she says. \u201cMy husband and I worked for change and to get any opportunity for them and we got it, so we are happy because they are happy here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aline Andrade has also built her family in Ireland, having moved here from Brazil more than a decade ago. She says the day feels like a big achievement.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m happy to get it done,\u201d Aline says. \u201cI\u2019m here in Ireland for so long \u2013 13 years. I felt like it was time to get it done so I\u2019m delighted. I love living in the country so I couldn\u2019t be happier. It definitely feels like home.\u201c\u201d<\/p>\n

Dexter Lim has been in Ireland for 22 years. His life has been divided between here and Malaysia, but Ireland feels like home. \u201cI feel proud and emotional,\u201d he says. \u201cI feel my life is transformed. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt makes me feel like a different person to be a part of the Irish culture and a part of the team. Officially, one of the gang.\u201d \u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Carlha Callinan moved to Ireland from Colombia eight years ago, and now lives in the Gaeltacht area of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":67081,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[9,10,11989,52,18,13,14,5286,6,19,17,11,12,15,16,5,7,8],"class_list":{"0":"post-67080","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ireland","8":"tag-breaking-news","9":"tag-breakingnews","10":"tag-colombia","11":"tag-dublin","12":"tag-eire","13":"tag-featured-news","14":"tag-featurednews","15":"tag-gaa","16":"tag-headlines","17":"tag-ie","18":"tag-ireland","19":"tag-latest-news","20":"tag-latestnews","21":"tag-main-news","22":"tag-mainnews","23":"tag-news","24":"tag-top-stories","25":"tag-topstories"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67080","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67080"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67080\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67081"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67080"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67080"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}