Irish citizenship rules addressed by Justice Department after Longford court case sparks online storm

The Department of Justice has responded to citizenship questions from The Longford Leader following the widespread online reaction to our October 25 court report about a defendant whose sentencing was adjourned for a second time in order to allow him “to complete his Irish citizenship” first.

The defendant’s solicitor had told Longford District Court at the time, “This gentleman pleaded guilty to the charge of deception. You gave him the opportunity Judge to seek an adjournment before sentence to allow him to complete his Irish citizenship. He has progressed that very well and I understand that while it is not granted yet, it is imminent. He has requested one final adjournment.”

Following the publication of the court report, which went on to attract attention across national and international platforms as well as widespread fury, the Longford Leader asked the Department of Justice for clarification on precisely how a person’s application for Irish citizenship could progress when the individual had pleaded guilty to an offence and was awaiting sentencing.

The Department did not at any point discuss the specific court case or the defendant, but explained that once a person is before the courts, their application for citizenship is paused until the court process and sentencing have been completed.

This means that despite the defendant's sentencing having been adjourned to allow him to complete his citizenship, his application actually cannot proceed further until his court case has concluded and he has been sentenced.

Explaining the rules, the Department said, “Where a person is before the courts, their application for citizenship is paused pending the outcome of proceedings. If a conviction is recorded, this will be taken into account when deciding if an applicant satisfies the good character criterion under Section 15.”

“All applicants for Citizenship are required to satisfy the good character criterion under Section 15 of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956 as amended.”

In their response, the Department explained that as part of a citizenship application, an applicant must detail all offences, and must also undertake the Garda e-vetting process.

They explained that as part of the “good character assessment,” the Gardaí are requested to make enquiries into the applicant’s background.

The Department said, “As part of the naturalisation application, an applicant is required to detail all offences, regardless of where an incident occurred, or how long ago, and including “spent” convictions.”

“All adult applicants must undertake the Gardaí e-vetting process or other police vetting processes as deemed necessary. The details of offences listed in the e-vetting report(s) will be cross referenced with the information provided by the applicant during the initial application submission.”

“As part of the good character assessment, An Garda Síochána is requested to make enquiries into the applicant’s background. For sound security and operational reasons, it is not the practice to comment on the enquiries that may be conducted.”