Hi there,
I don't think they allow you to go back to great-great grandparents but check it out anyway, you never know. If you try
www.oasis.gov.ie an Irish government website and type 'Citizenship' into their seach, it'll come up with information. Also,
www.justice.ie will provide you with the application forms you'd need and details about what formal paperwork you would have to provide. Click on Site Guide, then click on Immigration, Asylum and Citizenship, then Application Forms. Also they have contact inofrmation if you want to contact them directly.
It is becoming increasingly difficult to legally come here to work if you are a non-EU citizen and dont' have a citizenship connection to Ireland. But, if you are interested in coming over here to work, you can either get a Work Authorization, which is valid for 2 years and renewable and allows you to change employers (must stay in same sector of job, eg. social worker) but this option is only open to a select 'job type', specific to the particular needs of Ireland right now, eg. engineers, town planners, and a lot of medical fields. Or you can go the Work Permit route which is more restrictive. Valid one year and is renewable but legally binds you to one specific employer and to change employers you must obtain a new work permit. They take about 8-10 weeks to process and can are issued to employers only, not the individual. Futhermore, before you, a non-EU can be hired, the employer must post the job nationally and internationally with FAS (the Irish employment people) for a set timeframe and basically prove that no Irish or other EU person could be found to do your job. Furthermore, if you do get a job offer and the employer is willing to get the work permit for you, you have to wait the 8-10 weeks before you could actually start work becuase you cannot work while your permit application is being processed. All information is given on the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment website,
www.entemp.ie
After all that, if you still want to become an Irish citizen, wait 5 years and be on the books paying your taxes and staying out of trouble then you can apply through naturalization. Apparently the process takes a further 18 months. God, I'm actually depressing myself now
I hope this information helps. Good luck!
Sincerely,
Maria
