Think long and hard before you spend a few thousand dollars on Gibson and Associates. Here is my experience:
I have always hoped for a path to Irish citizenship and knew it was possible through association with a parent or grandparent who was an Irish citizen but Gibson's ad on Facebook claimed it was possible by association with a great-grandparent. With hope and excitement, I contacted them and was told if my activities and connections in Ireland were strong then a case could be made for great-grandparent association. I was told that their success record was "very good". I wanted to believe that and so I did and signed on.
That was in May 2020. My application was submitted in July 2020. Repeated contacts with the Irish Department of Justice over the next several years always yielded the same response, "You will hear in due course". In frustration I finally asked my contact at Gibson some very specific question. "How many applications of my sort have you filed with the D.O.J.? How many are still awaiting review for a decision? How many have been approved and how many have been denied?" I stressed that I did not want any names or any sort of identifying information that might violate confidentiality. I simply want numbers to help assess my chances. Despite repeatedly asking these questions, I was refused any answers.
Finally, almost six years from the submission of my application I was told by a contact in the Irish D.O.J the he had heard my application was denied. Being used to much confusion and misinformation from the D.O.J. I believed this could not be true because I had received no such notification from my representative at Gibson who would have received and forwarded this decision. I finally decided to contact the Gibson law firm and ask about this.
I was ignored for a solid week. I emailed and called. No one replied to my emails and no one at the office beyond the secretary who answered the phone would speak with me or return my calls. Finally, someone did call and admit that my application was denied and they forgot to notify me. My application was denied on March 4, 2026. I finally was told on May 26, 2026. They had known of this decision for over two months!
Here's what I have since learned. The Irish government is under great anti-outsider pressure. They have no desire to grant citizenship to anyone not living in the country and are not particularly thrilled with those who have recently immigrated. The rating system to review these applications is prohibitively weighted against anyone not living and working in Ireland. Gibson has flooded them with Facebook solicited application which simply sit in a pile until they grudgingly deny citizenship. There is a less than 5% approval rating. If you are considering asking for Gibson and Associates for their help in this process, require them to give you actual numbers on outcome data. Spend your money wisely. read more
