April the first was the day I got naturalised, according to the INIS website there was 4000 people at the ceremony. It was a mass ceremony, while I appreciated the whole ceremony and that the colours of the state and flags were paraded during the ceremony etc, I would have appreciated it even more if the event had some more Irish in it.
Even though I don't speak Irish, I would have appreciated if at least parts of the swearing in process could have been done bi-lingually in both irish and english.
Upon receiving my certificate I had to make sure everything was correct, and sure enough it was correct. The next step now is to get an Irish Passport then I'm good for travelling around europe with less hassle. I did come across one or two minor issues when I was sorting out my passport application form, I needed original copies of my birth cert, naturalisation cert, some proof of residence and address. Again the whole name thing did come up again. My advice for anyone in a similar position is that they make sure the name to appear on the passport be the same as the one that appears on the naturalisation certificate.
Related posts:
24 months and two weeks
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2012-02 -- Update on long naturalisation times in Ireland
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GNIB 2011 (till 2012) - Here I go again
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New Irish citizens will have to swear oath of fidelity
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