The Dublin Community Blog

Africa Day at Dublin Castle took place yesterday and was great craic altogether. A celebration of African culture and tradition, the place was packed to the brim – there was a 20 minute queue to get in when we arrived at around 3pm. According to RTÉ, over 7, 000 people attended. There were stalls displaying traditional crafts, clothing and everyday utensils, short films and exhibitions, South African wine tastings and sporting events. The main stage hosted a great mix of African and Irish acts – from traditional Malawian Dance Performances to Irish hip hop group Millionaire Boyz and Irish trad lads Kila.

it ended with performances from Mundy (who opened his set by saying “Should I just sing Galway Girl and go home?”), Republic of Loose and Sinead O’Connor.

According to the 2006 census, almost 42,000 of the people living in Ireland were born in Africa.

There are a few more pics on the Dublin Blog Flickr.

So, last Tuesday I went to the Garda office/Immigration on the Quays to renew my work authorization since it expired on the 24th of May.  I got there at 7.30 AM expecting to be there all day and had appropriate materials with me.  Well, I got put into the garda card line and was the 11th person.  I got nervous because I thought I needed to go to the visa section as well and they only give out a certain number of visa appointments per day.

So, I got in line and waited.  I only had to wait about 20 minutes standing in line since someone started giving out tickets with numbers on them earlier than they had to!  I then waited about 30 minutes to meet with the garda card people.  My number was called and the guy asked to see my papers and he then took my picture.  A little while later, I had my passport back, a new garda card, and a stamp in it saying I was legal for the next two years.

So, if you currently have a work authorization, you are able to renew it, at least for the time being.  :)  I am not sure if most people will have to go to both offices or not (the guy who processed my paperwork said it was easier because of the country I am a citizen of) but I would recommend getting there early.  It only took me an hour and a half to get everything done so I had the rest of the day to do what I wanted.