MORE THAN 3,000 people from 126 different countries became Irish citizens today.

Speaking at one of four ceremonies held at the Convention Centre in Dublin, Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald said that those who received naturalisation certificates “have the same rights, the same duties and the same responsibilities as every other Irish citizen”.

Fitzgerald described Ireland as: “One small island at the periphery of Europe”, adding that it “once sent forth almost half its population in starvation and fear to other countries” but is now “a magnet nation”.

Junior Minister Aodhán Ó Riordáin echoed these sentiments, telling those present:

It is truly amazing that this tiny island, at the edge of Western Europe facing into the Atlantic Ocean which is home to us all has, as its citizens – as members of the national family – people who have come to live with us from every country on this planet.

“As you leave here today, as proud new citizens of this Republic and constitutional democracy, our history is your history and the narrative of your life is now part of our history.”