There have been mixed reactions to thousands of foreign nationals being given full Irish citizenship, passports and voting rights this week.
Many people feel that priority for all services should be first given to the 10,000 homeless people who are lying on park benches, sleeping in shop front doorways and even dying on our streets.
A special ceremony was held in Killarney, Co. Kerry, where close to 2,500 non nationals pledged an oath of loyalty to the nation and officially became members of the Irish State.
These people are now full Irish citizens with Irish voting rights and entitled to Irish passports and social welfare.
The Minister for Justice Charlie Flanagan has welcomed Ireland’s newest citizens.
The ceremony is the eighth such ceremony to be held since 2011 and will bring the total of conferred citizens to 122,000 people.
The “new Irish” have posted on social media that they were “delighted” to gain full Irish citizenship and voting rights.
Meanwhile the national homeless rate has risen to just over 10,300 people, including over 3,000 Irish children homeless.
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