Latest News

In March, Nasc said goodbye to two of our staff.  Cork City Integration Project Co-ordinator Emer McCarthy and Legal Intern Aisling Twomey. Emer McCarthy was with Nasc as the EIF-funded Project Co-ordinator for two years.  Prior to that, Emer also worked at Nasc several years ago as the Policy and... Read more

In addition to the good news that came for several of our clients, our Free Legal Service had a busy month in February.  148 clients called in over 197 visits.  Our legal team successfully closed 9 cases. Of the 197 client visits to Nasc this month, the main reasons for visits included: Family reunification:... Read more

Nasc, the Irish Immigrant Support Centre cordially invites you to the launch of the film Roma – From Huedin to Here Date: Saturday 13th April 2013 Time: 12 PM – 1 PM Where: Gate Cinema (Screen 1), North Main Street, Cork A short documentary film that explores the story of the Roma community in Cork... Read more

We have had news that the Congolese Embassy is visiting Dublin this week.  If you require a Congolese passport or have a need to be in touch with the Embassy, we recommend you contact the Embassy in London to find out more specific details of their visit.  We will provide an update on the visit as... Read more

Nasc welcomes the conviction and fining of a man yesterday in Cork District Court for racially motivated abuse under the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act. The conviction stems from a racist report made to Nasc last year by the victim of the abuse. In response to that report, Nasc passed on the information... Read more

Nasc condemns the comments made yesterday in Limerick County Council by Fianna Fáil Councillor Kevin Sheehan (‘Coalition is anti-Irish, says Councillor , Irish Examiner) on social housing and ‘non-nationals’ (25th March). The allegation that immigrants are being granted social housing preferentially... Read more

Photo by Marcin Lewandowski. In the photo (from top left): Nollaig Cleary, Simon Zebo, Fiona Finn, Sean Og O hAilpin, Simon Prim, Brendan Mills, Lord Mayor John Buttimer, John O’Connor To mark the International Day Against Racism (21st March) and the European Week Against Racism (16th – 24th... Read more

Nasc made a submission last week to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications hearings on social media and cyberbulling on the issue of online racism. The submission was based on our experiences and work in anti-racism, integration and our third party racist reporting mechanism.... Read more

Nasc’s drop-in/free legal clinic service will be closed from: MONDAY 1ST APRIL 2013 to FRIDAY 5TH APRIL 2013 The drop-in/free legal clinic service will resume as normal on MONDAY 8TH APRIL 2013. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.   more>>

The Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service’s application form for citizenship has changed. Information and forms can be downloaded from the INIS website here. Please note that applications made on the old form will not be accepted. If you have any questions about applying for citizenship, please... Read more

In early January, Nasc welcomed the Supreme Court Decision in Sulaimon v Minister for Justice Equality and Law Reform ([2012] IESC 63) and called on INIS to issue new guidelines in light of this.  The response of the Minister for Justice and Equality to the Sulaimon judgement and the administrative... Read more

In February, Nasc hosted a Roma culture night – a night of food, wine, music and celebration of Roma culture – in our office at 35 Mary Street. Nasc’s Roma Rights Officer Claire Larkin kicked off the evening with a short speech, introduced a few special guests including City Councillor Catherine... Read more

A report published by the Central Statistics Office on March 1st details a decrease in the number of migrants getting PPS numbers (PPSN) between 2006 and 2011. This is certainly due to a decrease in migration into the country. However, the report also outlined the gap between unemployment figures and... Read more

We are delighted that several of our clients have had good news today that their applications were successful: Stamp 4 residency permission for a dependent of an Irish citizen – W. Came to Ireland at 16 to join her mother who had married an Irish citizen. She was given a Stamp 2 on registering which... Read more

Despite the cold and gloomy weather this January, Nasc’s legal advice team were working hard providing information, advice and support and advocating for clients navigating Ireland’s immigration system. Number of clients seen: 138 Number of successfully closed cases: 12 Main issues dealt with: Residency:... Read more

This past week, a number of journalists have been making comparisons between the survivors of the Magdalene laundries and asylum-seeking children who are currently living in the Direct Provision system. Sparked by the written response to a parliamentary question by TD Maureen O Sullivan, questions are... Read more

The State has lost its appeals to the Supreme Court in the cases of Hamza and Hassan. The cases concern applications for family reunification with a spouse and the recognition of foreign marriages by the INIS. The Supreme Court upheld the decision of the High Court in finding that consent to marry and... Read more

Nasc welcomes The European Commission Against Racism (ECRI) report on Ireland in its calls for the adoption of legislation to prohibit racial profiling. You can download a copy of the report here. The report identified four main areas of concern including: treatment of asylum seekers; health and accommodation... Read more

Celebrate and share the colours and culture of India in Cork City this June. Organisers Joanna and Keira are looking for: henna artists yoga instructors classical dance teachers/artist/musicians/groups, classical singers/enthusiastic vocalists (language no bar) bollywood dance groups/dance teachers... Read more

Nasc was pleased to be invited by Chief Superintendent Michael Finn to make a submission to the Cork City Policing Plan for 2013. The submission is available here.  The matters determined by An Garda Síochána as priorities for 2013 included: security, crime, policing communities, road policing, domestic... Read more