A judge apologised to five new Irishmen in court this week for the “disrespect” shown to them, after he learned they had to travel over 100 miles to make their declarations of fidelity.
In the District Court this week were five men, originally from the Middle East, north Africa, and the sub-continent, but now all with addresses in Dublin, who had all been given leave by the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform to apply for residency in the State. The last formality of this process is the declaration of fidelity sworn before a District Court judge before residency can be granted.
Noting that none of the five addresses were from the local court area, Judge David Anderson asked one of the gentlemen why this was, and was told the men were advised to travel down the country to complete the formalities because of the backlog of such affairs in the Dublin District Court system.
“The State asks you to swear fidelity to it, and then advises you to travel more than 100 miles to do so?” asked the judge.
“Gentlemen, it is not sufficient that the Court Services show you such disrespect, and I want to apologise to you for such treatment,” he added.
Our five latest citizens accepted the apology with grace and left.
