More than 6,000 people will celebrate becoming new Irish citizens at ceremonies in Dublin over the next two days.
Today, people from 142 countries gathered at the Convention Centre and became Irish citizens.
During the ceremonies, the importance of racial tolerance was conveyed and the new citizens were urged to participate fully in Irish life.
The presiding officer was the retired Judge Mary Irvine.
She said: "You will all hopefully contribute to the creation of a new and even more inclusive and diverse society that exists today."
Speaking at the event, Hana Alkhalifa, who came to Ireland from Sudan eight years ago, said: "I'm a qualified doctor and my plan is to start my career here and start serving this country as I have been served."
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Dr Alkhalifa said: "I haven’t experienced any kind of racism in Ireland since I arrived here. People are very nice here. They’re very friendly."
While Haleema Nasir said: "I can do anything. I can go out and I can say proudly I’m an Irish citizen now."
Josh and Annie Moore came to Ireland from the US in 2015.
Mr Moore said: "We're originally from the US and have been living in Carrick-on-Shannon for the last eight years now.
"We’re very thankful we’ve got through the process and can really put down roots here in Ireland."
A total of 173,000 people have received citizenship at such ceremonies since 2011.
