Irish Minister of State Neale Richmond gives an address at the Africa Ireland Trade Horizons conference. (Supplied)
A new visa requirement for South Africans travelling to Ireland, which was announced last year, was harsh but necessary at the time, Irish Minister of State for International Development and Diaspora Neale Richmond said on Thursday, and was under constant review.
The Irish government announced in July 2024 that South African and Botswana passport holders would require visas to enter the country.
Richmond said Ireland had experienced an influx of immigrants post Covid-19, which was a continental trend across Europe, saying the country did not have the resources to process the incoming people as quickly as they arrived, which eventually led to emergency accommodation needing to be sought.
“We saw over 100% of people coming here. A good mix of those people were claiming international protection and we identified a number of countries where we had a huge amount of people coming from. Nigeria was one of them and South Africa was another,” he told the Mail & Guardian in an interview.
“That’s why we put them on the list that they require visas in order to stop people. People were coming because it was visa free travel. Then they were getting here and claiming international protection.”
In another interview with the M&G last November, Irish ambassador Austin Gormley said part of the reason for his country imposing visas on South Africans was that the United Kingdom did the same, and part of the rationale was to align with that nation to protect the common travel area.
Gormley added that an increase in fraudulent South African passports had contributed to the decision.
South Africa and Ireland celebrated 30 years of diplomatic relations in 2024 and continue to hold strong trade and investment relations.
Enterprise Ireland, a government organisation that supports the development and growth of Irish enterprises on the global market, has a head office in Cape Town, the only one in sub-Saharan Africa. Data from the entity shows that two-way trade flow in goods with South Africa in 2023 amounted to €714 million, making it Ireland’s biggest trade partner in Africa.
Irish goods exports to South Africa rose by 25% to €448 million in 2022, while South African goods exports to Ireland doubled from €151 million to €315 million in the same period.
Irish companies have developed a significant presence in South Africa and employ more than 12 500 people with services. Big Irish owned companies such as Kerry Group and QK Meats have made South Africa a base for trade and investment in Africa.
But at the Africa Ireland Trade Horizons conference on 24 June, business leaders voiced their frustrations over the visa regulations that have affected travel between the two countries.
“I think those moves were very harsh,” Richmond conceded, but added: “They were necessary at the time to reregulate migration.”
“I have quite a large South African minority population in my constituency who have been here a long time. People who move from South Africa to London for professional reasons, working with large multinationals, they’ve been here for 20 to 25 years, they are Irish citizens.
“You have cases where granny can’t come to visit the new child, business partners can’t come. I know it’s a very cliched one, but it’s had very real human consequences.”
Richmond said resources had been doubled to handle visa applications from South Africa, not only in Dublin, but also at the Irish embassy in South Africa.
“The acute issue was far more with South Africa than Nigeria to be frank. Not only for established commercial reasons, but also for very clear people-to-people reasons,” Richmond said.
“The process will go forward and be much quicker. The process will always be under constant review. We’ve made the decision to increase the amount of people working and processing [visa applications], especially for South African visa applications. It was 12 to 16 weeks and now the processing time has gone down to four to six weeks.”
The minister did not want to preempt any decisions that might be made regarding the visa for South Africans, but offered hope for those looking to travel to migrate to Ireland for professional purposes.
“Previously, Enterprise Ireland was responsible for work permits. We have expanded the occupation list and we are now marrying the work permit system and visa system, whereby it’s one application, one result. You can get a work permit in 12 working days but a visa can take 6 weeks,” Richmond said.
The journalist’s trip to Ireland was sponsored by the Embassy of Ireland in South Africa.