Thurles Information

Minister McEntee issues first positive decisions under the Regularisation Scheme for Long-Term Undocumented Migrants.

• Approximately 5,000 applications have been made so far under the 2 strands of the regularisation scheme.
• First permission letters have issued to successful applicants in recent days.
• Minister encourages all those eligible to apply to do so.

Minister for Justice Mrs Helen McEntee TD, has today announced that she has issued the first positive decisions under the Regularisation Scheme for Long-Term Undocumented Migrants, just two months after the Scheme opened for applications.

To date, approximately 5,000 applications have been made to the two strands of the Scheme – the main scheme for people in a long-term undocumented situation, and the international protection strand for people who have been in the asylum process for a minimum of 2 years. Around 250 positive decisions have been made under the two strands in recent days. Processing of all other applications remains ongoing.

Welcoming the positive start to the Scheme, Minister McEntee said,
“We’ve seen a very positive level of engagement with the Scheme since I opened it for applications at the end of January.
We committed to making the online application process as simple and as straightforward as possible and because of this we are now in a position to issue the first positive decisions just two months in.

Permission letters have started to arrive in homes across the country with life changing news for those receiving them and their families. I want to congratulate everyone who has received a letter and to thank them for trusting us and coming forward to regularise their position in the State.

This is just the start and we’ll see more decisions and permissions issuing in the coming weeks.”

The Minister also outlined her plans to encourage more people to apply;
“It’s very important that people who are eligible don’t miss out on the opportunity to apply to this Scheme. We want to build on this early momentum and continue raising awareness of the Scheme. My Department will run a targeted communications campaign in the coming weeks to reach out to migrant communities likely to benefit from the Scheme to encourage them to consider applying.

We are continuing to engage with the NGO community and other stakeholders who have played and will continue to play a key role in building confidence in the Scheme among the more vulnerable members of those migrant communities.

I hope seeing these first positive decisions issuing will encourage more people to apply for what is truly a once-in-a-generation opportunity to regularise their status in the State.”

Minister McEntee encourages all undocumented migrants who are eligible to apply for the main scheme to do so before the closing date of 31 July 2022. Applications can be made online at https://inisonline.jahs.ie.

Further details regarding the qualifying criteria, the required documentation, and how to apply for the scheme are available on the Department’s immigration website at www.irishimmigration.ie/regularisation-of-long-term-undocumented-migrant-scheme.

International protection applicants who have an outstanding application for international protection and have been in the asylum process for a minimum of 2 years have a separate application process. The International Protection Office of the Department has written to approximately 4,000 potentially eligible applicants inviting them to apply. Over 1,300 people from this cohort have applied so far.

The International Protection strand of the Scheme is open for applications until 7 August 2022. Further information can be found on the website of the International Protection Office (Site Redirected) at: www.ipo.gov.ie/en/ipo/pages/whatsnew.

Anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist; former University College Dublin (UCD) professor and unsuccessful Co. Tipperary election candidate, Ms Dolores Cahill, has revealed to a misguided following that she remains hidden in a remote location, following a warrant having been already issued by a Dublin court, for her immediate arrest.

Dolores Cahill, a former member of the minor right-wing, hard Eurosceptic political party in Ireland, which call, themselves, ‘The Irish Freedom Party’, was one of 11 candidates to contest the 2020 Irish General Election, held on Saturday February 8th, 2020, with none of their candidates being successfully elected.

Dolores Cahill, claiming to represent Co. Tipperary, came second-last in the Tipperary constituency, with only a miserable 521 first preference votes. Following her election failure her agents ceased to function, in the removal of her election posters here in Thurles, for almost one year.

The former UCD professor has now admitted that she is actively travelling around Ireland in an attempt not to get arrested and is keeping a low profile for fear of going to prison.

In December 2021 Meta, latter now Facebook’s parent company, removed Dolores Cahill social media page, as part of their crackdown on Covid-19 misinformation on its platform.

Previously, Gardaí had investigating whether Ms Cahill was involved in a group which encouraged a severely ill Covid patient to leave a Co Donegal hospital. Mr Joe McCarron sadly died after being re-admitted to hospital several days later.

A bench warrant for Ms Cahill was issued on January 25th last after the aforementioned failed to appear before a Dublin court on the previous day. Her failed appearance concerned an incident at Dublin Airport on September 6th, 2020, where she was accused of failing to adhere to guidelines and other shortcomings, when asked to comply with the directions of members of An Garda Síochána.