Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
RIDWAN ABDULRASAQ REALISED early in his career that he no longer wanted to work as a nurse in his home country Nigeria: “I was underpaid, there were only few chances to progress and I wasn’t getting opportunities to explore several aspects of nursing.’’
The 31-year-old started seeking opportunities abroad. Last October — a few months after his wedding — he was offered a job in Ireland.
While Ridwan was excited about the opportunity to go abroad, practicing as a non-EEA nurse in Ireland meant he couldn’t immediately bring his wife with him.
“It was tough for us to be separated that early in our marriage but like many non-EU nurses, the plan was to avail of the family reunification visa as a Critical Skills Employment Permit holder,” he said.
“I had a few options but I chose to move here because I had the impression that Irish people have a sense of community and are family-oriented, so we thought, ‘why not raise a family here?’”
Despite working in Dublin for the past nine months, Ridwan is yet to reunite with his wife.
“Some nurses who applied to the Ireland Embassy in Nigeria have been waiting for up to two years,” said Ridwan.
According to the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) website, immediate family reunification visas are dealt with within six months of application but Abdulrazak says delays in processing visas for African nurses in comparison to his non-EEA colleagues have become a source of frustration.
Newlywed Ridwan Abdulrasaq and his wife have been waiting since April for her reunification visa to come through. Joseph Okoh
Joseph Okoh
“In my case my wife applied in April and we’re still waiting, but my Indian colleague who applied in May already has her family here.”
I work in a nursing home where I do 12-hour shifts and look after 38 patients. It’s hard not having anyone to go home to after a long day.
Ireland relies heavily on overseas non-EU nurses to fill vacancies.
A 2022 report by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI) shows that 61 per cent of new registrants in the Irish nursing service were from non-EU countries, with Zimbabwe (132) and Nigeria (62) among the top African countries filling in staff shortages here.
“When we come here, we want to feel valued. We also don’t want to break our family bond,” says Olayinka Aremu, President of Association of Nigerian Nurses in Ireland, a social and cultural interest group which advocates for the interests of Nigerian nurses here.
“Nurses coming from Nigeria and Ghana are the ones mostly affected by these delays. We did a survey last year and found out that among Nigerian and Ghanian nurses who had applied for family reunification visas, only 20% had theirs approved on time.
“Why are some non-EEA nurses able to bring their families here in only a matter of weeks and others can’t? That is disgraceful,” she said.
Olayinka said when ANNI sought to find out reasons for the delays the response they got from the Ireland Embassy in Nigeria were through automated emails saying “applications are attended to on a case-by-case basis”.
She noted:
We’re no longer at the peak of the pandemic when processing times were longer.
“They just wouldn’t say what the exact issue is. We don’t know if they are short of staff but even if they are, that isn’t tenable because countries like India and Philippines with significantly higher numbers of nurses coming to Ireland are getting approvals way quicker.”
In the last few years, the mass exodus of Irish trained nurses has paved the way for more and more African nurses to move here for work.
Members of the Association of Nigerian Nurses in Ireland (ANNI). Joseph Okoh / ANNI
Joseph Okoh / ANNI / ANNI
However, Ridwan said visa challenges and the persistent shortage of affordable housing is now making Ireland a less attractive destination for nurses and midwives, adding that if these issues are ignored, Ireland risks losing its non-EU workers too to other countries.
“People need to understand that housing is a key component of integration for us. Unfortunately, the housing crisis isn’t getting any better,” he said.
“I currently spend more than 50 per cent of my income on rent and whenever my wife is able to join me, my rent will definitely increase. I’m seriously considering relocating to Australia or the US. I don’t see myself living in Ireland beyond 2025.”
Advertisement
Farida (not real name) is a nurse midwife who recently swapped Ireland for the UK – only 18 months after moving here from West Africa. The mother of three said she got fed up waiting for eight months for her for her family’s visa application to be processed.
Despite the delay, Farida never planned to leave Ireland, but had a rethink when she received the tragic news that 40 people, including four children, were killed at a mass shooting incident in the city her family lived.
“I was at work and so agitated.
I kept on thinking, ‘Are they safe? If anything happens to them, I won’t forgive myself.’
“It was the scariest day of my life,” Farida recalls.
Last December, Farida joined the National Health Service (NHS) after availing of the UK’s Health and Care Worker Dependent visa scheme.
“I got a job in Coventry, so my family retrieved their passports and applied to the UK. They got their visas approved within seven working days and they were able to join me immediately,” she said.
“Although I was initially provided with three months’ accommodation here, when my family arrived, we found an alternative accommodation without any hassle.”
The lack of suitable available accommodation especially for those working in larger towns and cities is an issue of growing concern for the INMO, with the group warning of a likely staff shortage at the new National Children’s Hospital and the proposed new elective hospital in Cork city if they can’t find a place close to work.
Olayinka said many nurses now coming to Ireland are now been forced to live in shared rooms and accommodation with mixed gender.
When African nurses move here, family separation isn’t their only challenge.
Exposure to a new medical system, non-recognition of their qualifications, navigating ethical issues due to differing beliefs and workplace culture can take its toll.
Lukman Busari is a general nurse who has been working in Ireland for the past six years after relocating from Nigeria.
When the 39 year old started working in Ireland, he said he encountered a few situations that made him feel like an outsider but has since developed adaptation techniques.
It was small things like management style or how conflicts were handled in the work environment.
“Unlike in Nigeria, here people don’t really like confrontation. So, I always found it odd that when I did certain things perceived to be unorthodox, instead of colleagues telling me to my face, they would report to the line manager. It used to annoy me.”
Lukman adds that cultural misunderstandings can have a negative impact on professional relationships and affect performance level.
“Where I work, I have seen a lot of migrant nurses struggling to adapt. Some feel so isolated and seem to be losing their self-confidence.”
While Lukman is pleased with HSE’s induction and adaptation programmes for internationally recruited nurses, he wants more emphasis to be on how the existing workforce can support new overseas joiners as they carve out new lives for themselves here.
Lukman Bursari has been working as a general nurse in Ireland for six years and has seen migrant nurses struggling to adapt. Joseph Okoh
Joseph Okoh
“There should be a feedback system where nurses can express what they are going through especially during the first six months of their induction or probation.”
Olayinka agreed: “ANNI has received multiple reports from nurses on the adaptation programme who aren’t getting adequate support required to pass their assessments. Oftentimes these nurses have to go back to their countries after spending so much to come here. There are particular centres where the failure rate is alarming. That needs to be checked.”
For the past six months, Olayinka has been planning an event which she hopes would transform the experiences of the migrant nurses in Ireland. The inaugural Africa Health Summit holding this Saturday at Richmond Education Centre in Dublin will bring together healthcare professionals from the migrant community and Irish healthcare policy makers with Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly expected to address the event.
She said:
It’s long overdue.
“We want our voices to be heard. We want to have an open dialogue with government representatives and other stakeholders on a wide range of issues and build partnerships.
“We hope this will help build and sustain a positive working environment for all healthcare professionals and the country at large.”
Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article.
Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.
Pope Francis had 'peaceful' night in hospital, Vatican says
1 hr ago
4.6k
7 deadly reads
Sitdown Sunday: 'How f**king twisted is that?' - James Murdoch on his relationship with his father
21 mins ago
1.3k
3
Mulhouse
One dead and several police officers wounded in 'Islamist' knife attack in France
Updated
15 hrs ago
36.0k
Your Cookies. Your Choice.
Cookies help provide our news service while also enabling the advertising needed to fund this work.
We categorise cookies as Necessary, Performance (used to analyse the site performance) and Targeting (used to target advertising which helps us keep this service free).
We and our 152 partners store and access personal data, like browsing data or unique identifiers, on your device. Selecting Accept All enables tracking technologies to support the purposes shown under we and our partners process data to provide. If trackers are disabled, some content and ads you see may not be as relevant to you. You can resurface this menu to change your choices or withdraw consent at any time by clicking the Cookie Preferences link on the bottom of the webpage .Your choices will have effect within our Website. For more details, refer to our Privacy Policy.
We and our vendors process data for the following purposes:
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
Cookies Preference Centre
We process your data to deliver content or advertisements and measure the delivery of such content or advertisements to extract insights about our website. We share this information with our partners on the basis of consent. You may exercise your right to consent, based on a specific purpose below or at a partner level in the link under each purpose. Some vendors may process your data based on their legitimate interests, which does not require your consent. You cannot object to tracking technologies placed to ensure security, prevent fraud, fix errors, or deliver and present advertising and content, and precise geolocation data and active scanning of device characteristics for identification may be used to support this purpose. This exception does not apply to targeted advertising. These choices will be signaled to our vendors participating in the Transparency and Consent Framework.
Manage Consent Preferences
Necessary Cookies
Always Active
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Store and/or access information on a device 104 partners can use this purpose
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development 136 partners can use this purpose
Use limited data to select advertising 106 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Create profiles for personalised advertising 78 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Use profiles to select personalised advertising 77 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Create profiles to personalise content 37 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Use profiles to select personalised content 33 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Measure advertising performance 127 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Measure content performance 60 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different sources 75 partners can use this purpose
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Develop and improve services 82 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Use limited data to select content 38 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
Use precise geolocation data 43 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Actively scan device characteristics for identification 25 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Ensure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix errors 86 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Deliver and present advertising and content 96 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Match and combine data from other data sources 68 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Link different devices 50 partners can use this feature
Always Active
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Identify devices based on information transmitted automatically 84 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
Save and communicate privacy choices 64 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say