Citizenship ceremonies to go ahead but people who visited regions with Covid-19 asked not to attend

Large-scale Citizenship ceremonies will go ahead as planned in Killarney on Monday and Tuesday the Department of Justice says.

The Department has consulted with health authorities and is asking candidates and their guests who have returned from a Covid-19 affected region in the past 14 days to self-isolate and not to attend.

The current list of affected areas contains mainland China, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, Iran and four regions in Northern Italy: Veneto, Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna, Piedmont — and alternative ceremonies will be held for those affected, it says.

Some 5,000 new Irish from 135 countries are to be conferred with citizenship in six separate ceremonies in the first two-day event in Killarney.

It results from a back-log because of a legal test over continuous residence.

The largest grouping of new Irish citizens, is the 1,000 people from Britain, followed by 715 from Poland and almost 500 people from Romania.

This is followed by India with 370 people and Nigeria with 201 people. Some 113 persons are of Chinese origin, the same number as the USA.

The ceremonies at the INEC in Killarney began in May 2018 after the Gleneagle Convention Centre successfully bid for the tender.

The town has a large office of the Department of Justice which provides assistance.

Taking place in the off-peak tourist season, each event is worth hundreds of thousands of euro to the tourist town.

Hotelier Bernadette Randles, chairwoman of the Kerry branch of the IHF, said it has been "a very positive event" in the town over the last three years.

The atmosphere is akin to third-level conferrings, Ms Randles said: “People get dressed up and they bring families and partners and friends."

Large numbers take mini-breaks in Killarney for the events.

Killarney has the ideal infrastructure for the events, far less expensive than Dublin and is easily accessible, she explains: “It’s a great boost for the town. It benefits shops, restaurants, hotels, and there is a real celebration."

The new tender will go out in 2021, the department said.

To date, including minors, and those gaining Irish citizenship next week approximately 132,000 people will have received Irish citizenship since large scale ceremonies were introduced in 2011.

The Presiding Officer on Monday will be Retired High Court Judge, Bryan McMahon; on the Tuesday it will be retired District Court Judge, Paddy McMahon.

The Minister for Justice and Equality, Charlie Flanagan TD, will attend on Monday and Minister of State, David Stanton TD, will attend on Tuesday.