2016 will see the arrival of up to 4,000 refugees in the country, and 26 locations have been deemed suitable to provide housing and accommodation for them.
The locations are Killarney, Kilkenny, Carlow, Cavan, Monaghan, Carrickmacross, Carrick-on-Shannon, Roscommon, Sligo, Ballina, Castlebar, Ennis, Limerick, Cork, Tralee, Thurles, Portlaoise, Tullamore, Waterford, Naas, Arklow, Mullingar, and in the four Dublin local authority areas.
The refugees will first be accommodated in “reception centres” for eight to ten weeks, where they will be provided with basic English lessons, and also taught skills such as how to use the euro, before they are moved to permanent homes.