Immigrants need better courses

THE Immigrant Council of Ireland (ICI) welcomes recent comments by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Brian Lenihan, that he wishes to address ‘unacceptable delays’ in the process migrants face in becoming Irish citizens.

We particularly welcome his comment that Ireland should welcome migrants who wish to become Irish citizens after a reasonable period of residency.

In relation to Mr Lenihan’s comment that migrants wishing to become citizens should be competent in the English (and possibly also the Irish) language, it has been the ICI’s experience that the vast majority of migrants with poor or no English language skills are very keen to learn the language.