* Scheme is open for online applications for those who don’t have a current permission to reside in Ireland. * Applications will be accepted for six months until 31 July 2022. *Primary applicants must have a period of four years undocumented residence in the State, or three years in the case of those with children. * Successful applicants will receive immigration permission, access to the labour market and can begin path to citizenship.
The Minister for Justice, Mrs Helen McEntee, TD, has today opened the scheme to regularise thousands of undocumented migrants and their families who are living in Ireland.
There is no reliable data on the number of undocumented persons in the State, but studies suggest there could be up to 17,000 undocumented persons including up to 3,000 children and that many could be in employment, although likely low paid employment.
Online applications for the scheme will be accepted from 10:00am today for six months until 31st July 2022, when the scheme will close. Applications can be made online at https://inisonline.jahs.ie
The scheme will enable applicants, and their eligible dependentswhere the specific criteria is met, to remain and reside in the State and to regularise their residency status.
Opening the scheme, Minister McEntee stated, “I am delighted to now be able to open the once-in-a-generation scheme for long-term undocumented migrants and their family members living in Ireland. The scheme has been welcomed by those who have been contributing to our society for years but were seeking a way of regularising their status here in Ireland. I firmly believe this scheme will improve the lives of thousands of people across the country who contribute to our society, enrich our culture and work in our economy, but unfortunately still live in the legal shadows. People come to Ireland to make a better life for themselves and their families and they can find themselves undocumented for many reasons. This scheme will provide an opportunity for those who meet its criteria to remain and reside in the State and to become part of mainstream Irish society rather than living on its margins.”
Primary applicants who are eligible under the scheme will:
* Have a period of 4 years residence in the State without an immigration permission, or 3 years in the case of those with minor children, immediately prior to the date on which the scheme opens for applications; *Be permitted to include a spouse, civil partner or defacto partner and eligible children aged 18 – 23 years who must have been living with the principal applicant for 2 years immediately prior to the date on which the Scheme opens for applications; *Be granted a Stamp 4 immigration permission that allows for unrestricted access to the labour market; and * Have years of residence with that permission reckonable for the purposes of pursuing Irish citizenship by way of naturalisation.
Those with an existing Deportation Order can apply, if they meet the minimum undocumented residence requirement. Applicants must meet standards regarding good character and criminal record/behaviour and not pose a threat to the State. Having convictions for minor offences will not, by itself, result in disqualification.
People with expired student permissions will also be able to apply, if they meet the minimum undocumented residence requirement.
Minister McEntee added, “People who are in an undocumented situation are burdened with a great deal of stress and uncertainty regarding their position in society. Unfortunately, they also may be more vulnerable to exploitation due to their precarious legal situation. In an effort to reach those migrant communities most likely to benefit from the scheme, my Department will engage in a targeted communications campaign during the six month application window. The support of key organisations working directly with people and families who find themselves in these circumstances will also be crucial in encouraging people to come forward and participate in the scheme.”
As previously announced by the Minister, international protection applicants who have an outstanding application for international protection and have been in the asylum process for a minimum of 2 years will have a separate application process. The International Protection Office will contact potentially eligible applicants shortly with further details.
Applicants must meet standards regarding good character and criminal record/behaviour and not pose a threat to the State. Having convictions for minor offences will not, of itself, result in disqualification.
Same preparations are expected to include numerous video conferencing calls, numerous emails, a Mass celebration and party; all for Sr. Mary celebrating her amazing life which was dedicated to teaching.
Sr. Mary Britton
Sr. Mary was born on the 20th January 1922, during the Irish civil war; the eldest of the Britton family, from Cloncleigh, Two-Mile-Borris, Thurles, Co. Tipperary, the daughter of the late Edward and Johanna Britton and sister to brothers Paddy, Sean, Billy and Pierce, and the late Eddie, Christy, Johanna and Bridget (R.I.P). Baptised in St. James Church, Two-Mile-Borris, Thurles; Sr. Mary received her early education in the local national school. She received her First Holy Communion also in St. James Church in the village and later received her Confirmation in the nearby Church of St. Peter in Chains, Moycarkey, Thurles, Co. Tipperary.
In 1938, at the age of 17 years, Sr. Mary entered the Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy, in Timolegue, Co. Cork.
Due to the outbreak of World War II, (1939 -1945), travel was greatly curtailed and Sr. Mary spent the next eight years in Timolegue, Co Cork. It was while residing there that she qualified as a music and elocution teacher, having studied at the College of Music in Cork City and while travelling by train each day to Cork City. Same studies saw her receive the highest grades from Trinity College, London. Sr. Mary has always remained very musical, with a most beautiful singing voice.
In 1947 preparations were made for Sr. Mary and 18 other nuns, to sail to Australia and to take their religion and new teaching qualifications to the new Roman Catholic schools then being built. In November 1947, they departed from Glenmire railway station, Co Cork; travelling to Sean Heuston station in Dublin, before staying overnight in a convent in Dun Laoghaire.
The following day, together with 13 priests, they set sail from Dun Laoghaire harbour in Dublin, sailing to Holyhead in Wales.
SS Otranto 1947.
On arrival in Wales they continued by train to the port of South Hampton, England, where they boarded the then refitted troop ship SS Otranto, a passenger liner, then sailing regularly between England and Australia. The overall journey took some 5 weeks before arriving in Perth Harbour.
Sr. Mary well remembers the journey to Australia as being very pleasant. They were all treated very well, with the food, presented on board, being of the highest standard. They arrived in Perth Harbour on St. Stephen day, 1947, to sunshine, heat and clear blue skies, before taking another boat to Sydney harbour.
His Eminence Sir Norman Thomas Gilroy, KBE.
Here they were very well received, with the Archbishop of Sydney, later His Eminence Cardinal Sir Norman Thomas Gilroy, KBE, [Latter of Irish descent; the first Australian-born Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, knighted in 1969], coming in person to welcome them and providing a celebratory feast for all the religious Irish weary travellers to enjoy.
Sr. Mary would then continue travelling on to Melbourne, before ending her journey in Brisbane, Queensland.
Sr. Mary’s first teaching post was in All Hallows’ Convent boarding school for girls, latter the first Catholic boarding school built in Brisbane. Here she spent some 37 happy years, teaching music, piano and violin together with other instruments. She also taught English and gave elocution classes to the girls. She taught singing, organised the choirs for the church in the school and the musicals for the boarding school stage.
Through her love of music and her friendly personality, Sr. Mary made many friends in the community around All Hallows’ Convent with many of her pupils remaining close friends long afterwards.
In 1984, Sr. Mary was invited to transfer to St. Bridget Convent School in Rosewood, Queensland. Rosewood is a small coal mining town about 38 miles from Brisbane. It has a population of approx. 3,000 people. Here Sr. Mary thrived, due to her good nature, her pleasant and cheerful personality and of course her great talent as a musician/singer.
Once again Sr. Mary made lifetime friends through her music and her involvement in the local community and church. She spent some 16 happy years in Rosewood, before the nuns transferred the school over to the local community.
On retirement, Sr. Mary returned to the Mater Hospital in Brisbane and again she became involved with the church and contributed greatly to parish work. Only last year did Mary, at the age of 99 years, go into a nursing home belonging to the Mercy Congregation, where she continues to attend Mass each day and participate in many other activities.
Sr. Mary returned to Ireland many times over the years and always enjoyed spending time with her family and friends from Two-Mile-Borris and the wider community here in Co. Tipperary. She holds many dear memories of her now deceased brothers and sisters (Eddie, Christy, Johanna Mc Donnell and Bridget Ryan, R.I.P.).
Sr. Mary remains in frequent contact with her brothers Paddy, Sean, Billy and Pierce, still residing in the village of Two-Mile-Borris, Thurles as well as her nieces and nephews; taking a special interest in their everyday lives.
It is with great joy we celebrate this upcoming occasion as Sr. Mary reaches her 100th birthday on Thursday January 20th, 2022.
A very happy birthday wish goes to Sr. Mary from all her friends and family here in Two-Mile-Borris, Thurles and Co. Tipperary.
Programme will open for applications on December 16th for eight weeks.
Up to 500 places available on the Programme.
Current or former Afghan nationals living in Ireland can apply for temporary residence for 4 close family members.
Priority will be given to those most vulnerable including: older people, children, women and girls and people with disabilities.
Helen McEntee TD
The Minister for Justice, Mrs Helen McEntee TD, has today confirmed that the Afghan Admission Programme will open for applications this Thursday, 16th December 2021.
The Programme will enable current or former Afghan nationals living legally in Ireland to apply to have their close family members, who are living in Afghanistan or who have recently fled to territories bordering Afghanistan, to apply for temporary residence in Ireland.
Up to 500 places will be available on the Programme, which is a key part of the Government’s response to the evolving humanitarian situation in Afghanistan.
Outlining the Programme, Minister McEntee said:
“I am delighted to now be able to confirm that we are opening the Afghan Admission Programme for applications. I am very conscious of the plight faced by the Afghan people following the collapse of the former Afghan government and the takeover by the Taliban.
A reversal of human rights, increased violence and fear of reprisals has led to a large number of displaced people seeking help. Understandably, it has also been a very worrying time for the Afghan community living in Ireland as they fear for the safety of their family members in Afghanistan or displaced to neighbouring countries.
In processing applications, we will be prioritising those who are especially vulnerable and whose freedom and safety is most at risk, like older people, children, single female parents, single women and girls and people with disabilities. We will also give priority to people whose previous employment exposes them to greater risk, for example UN and EU employees and people who worked for civil society organisations.”
The Programme is part of a co-ordinated national response, in conjunction with the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, to the crisis in Afghanistan.
Welcoming the announcement, Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Mr James Browne TD, said,
Mr James Browne TD.
“In opening the Programme for applications we are delivering on the commitment made by the Government on behalf of the Irish people. I want to thank the Afghan community in Ireland for their patience while we worked to finalise the details of the Programme.
Our objective is to ensure that applications can be processed as quickly as possible and the criteria have been developed with this in mind. I look forward to welcoming the first family members to Ireland under the Programme in the near future”.
As part of this response, an additional 500 places have been made available through the Irish Refugee Protection Programme for refugees from Afghanistan since August 31st 2021. The Department of Justice has provided the visa waivers to facilitate their travel to Ireland.
The Department has also provided assistance to Afghan nationals through the statutory family reunification provisions.
Minister McEntee concluded,
“Family reunification avenues have already enabled many Afghan nationals to join their families here in Ireland. So far this year, 110 Afghan nationals have been granted a statutory Family Reunification permission under the International Protection Act 2015. My Department has also issued 102 Join Family visas to Afghan citizens since August 2021.
Combined with the 500 available places on the Programme that we are announcing today, this represents a very high level of support for the 1,200 strong Afghan community currently living in Ireland.’’
The Afghan Admission Programme is guided by the previous Syrian Humanitarian Assistance Programme (SHAP) and the IRPP Humanitarian Assistance Programme (IHAP) schemes, which also provided for the nomination of limited numbers of close family members.
The Programme will open for applications on December 16th 2021 and applications will be accepted for a period of eight weeks until 10 February 2022. The application form and guidance material to help with completing an application will be available on the Department’s Irish Immigration website [www.irishimmigration.ie] on December 16th 2021.
We wrote about a second clutch of 4 swallows being reared by “Barney” and “Beakey” some 15 days ago, soon after all their eggs hatched, on August 14th, 2021. Now 14 days later, look how they have grown, filling their second mud nest, on a diet of Thurles insects.
Almost ready for the long road ahead. Photo: G. Willoughby.
Swallows have been around on our planet for a very, very long time. A remark found in Aristotle’s (384BC–322BC) best-known work on ethics “Nicomachean Ethics” reads “one swallow does not a summer make”.
The play “Timon of Athens”, latter a sharp satire on wealth, greed and betrayal and written by William Shakespeare between 1605 and 1606, contains the phrase, “The swallow follows not summer more willing than we your lordship”.
On coming here to Thurles the swallow, in many cases, travels well over 6,500 miles from sub-Saharan Africa to spend the summer with us. They come to take advantage of our longer hours of daylight; our abundant sources of flying insects and the lack of other competition to their ‘on the wing’ food source. Were they to remain in their African winter-quarters, swallows would have to share their airspace with at least a dozen other related flying species.
Thus this small bird, that weighs less than an ounce (20 grams) is prepared to fly north-westwards, at great personal risk, to take advantage of our more temperate latitude, a classification we share with most of north-west Europe.
Swallows navigate using the Earth’s magnetic field; polarised light and visual landmarks, which incredibly allow them to return to the very same area here in Tipperary, where they were originally born.
Soon around mid-September of the current year, their return journey will take them back, south-eastwards, across the North Atlantic sea. Since swallows feed entirely on flying insects, they don’t need to fatten up before departing, rather they will grab their food, on the wing, along their chosen flightpath; over their six week journey, covering up to 200 miles each day. They will, using day light, cross western Europe; breaking their journey, to drink or feed as they feel the need. They will congregate on headlands before taking flight to cross the Mediterranean Sea; then across the Sahara Desert; the jungles of equatorial Africa, until Table Mountain comes into their vision; thus signalling to each that they have at last reached the approximate vicinity of their wintering quarters.
Meanwhile, we here in Ireland are left bereft until next April. Watch them, enjoy them, while they are still around to be observed, in the knowledge and firm belief that “men may make plans, but God laughs”.
“Barney” and “Beakey” are two barn swallows temporally residing here in Thurles, Co. Tipperary, which we have been carefully watching.
In the last few days they have produced their second brood of chicks, having built two nests, the most recent construction within about 3.66meters (12ft) of their previous abode.
“Barney” and “Beakey Swallow” hatch second brood, as a spider and his web remain in residence next door.
Swallows spend their winter in southern Africa, migrating across the Mediterranean Sea and the Sahara Desert to Ireland in spring to return home using the same return route in early September.
They build cup-shaped nests in barn rafters, under roofs, using mud pellets, hair, grass, and feathers as seen here above. It can take a pair of swallows up to 1,100 journeys to build their nest, with the female only permitted to line it; in the case shown above “Beakey” used a layer of dried grass on top of the mud pellets, before covering it in a mixture of soft feathers.
Most of our Irish swallows try to rear two broods each summer and some early arrivals succeed in raising three. The male swallow in this case “Barney” arrived back in the Thurles area first and was heard singing over his territory awaiting to attract a mate. Females, (like most women) don’t mind keeping their men waiting, generally arriving up to a week late, looking virtually identical in appearance to their male counterparts. [Males have longer outer tail-streamers than females and have also more gloss to their outer feathers.]
Swallows always return to the same location to nest every year, so the number of birds nesting in any one area can grow year after year.
Not even distantly related to their somewhat look alike Swift family; having watched them year after year, the true home of barn swallows is in our skys where they feed almost exclusively on midges and flies caught during their erratic, high speed flight. They can be observed even drinking on the wing, flying low to sip water.
Swallows nests, their eggs and chicks are protected under the Wildlife Act 1976 and Wildlife (Amendment) Act 2000 and European-level legislation. The penalties for tampering with swallows or disturbing their active nests consists of heavy fines and even imprisonment.
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