Judge Seamus Hughes has questioned whether Mullingar needs a special naturalisation court to cope with the large number of applications there.
Mullingar District Court is receiving a large number of inquiries from outside the district from people who wish to complete their naturalisation declaration, he said and referred to “a lack of facilitation” in other districts.
People are “waiting months’ in other districts, he noted.
A person whose citizenship application has been granted must declare an oath of loyalty to Ireland before their naturalisation process can be completed.
At the recent sitting of Mullingar District Court 15 new citizens solemnly declared their “fidelity to the Irish nation” and their “loyalty to the State”.
The volume of applicants prompted the judge to ask State solicitor Peter Jones to inquire if a special court is needed.
He said he had also noted large numbers of applicants at courts in Athlone and Longford.
Referring to what he suggested was a “backlog that has to be cleared” he said that “something has changed, but I don’t know what it is”.
Retired judge John Neilan, who sat in the Mullingar District before Judge Hughes was assigned, regularly noted the large volume of applications from outside the Mullingar area and the apparent unwillingness of other districts to facilitate naturalisations.
