The Department of Justice and Equality: Speech by Alan Shatter TD, Minister for Justice, Equality and Defence on Friday 24th June 2011 - Citizenship Ceremony - Dublin Castle Conference Centre, Dublin 2

The Department of Justice and Equality: Speech by Alan Shatter TD, Minister for Justice, Equality and Defence on Friday 24th June 2011 - Citizenship Ceremony - Dublin Castle Conference Centre, Dublin 2: "As Minister for Justice and Equality, I am in law given the duty of deciding who should be awarded the privilege of citizenship. In doing so, I have to carefully apply the citizenship laws enacted by our Parliament and consider the individual circumstances of those who seek Irish citizenship. I take that duty very seriously, as I am acting on behalf of all Irish people in deciding who should be granted the privilege of Irish citizenship. That is why, within days of becoming Minister in March, I decided that we as a State needed to do more – a lot more – to mark in a formal way the significance of the granting of citizenship. We do not award citizenship lightly and it is right that it’s granting is marked by a sense of occasion that serves to underscore its importance to you, the person receiving it, and to us who, on behalf of the people of Ireland, grant it to you."?