True it is scary, however, one must take extra careful care when living in a foreign country and right or wrong we are non-EU/Irish nationals & it's up to us to follow the rules.
Saying that it was not completely your fault is not exactly fair, ignorance is not an excuse & 'at the end of the day' as they say over here, you have to take responsibilty for your own circumstances. Why not get the papers and fill them out yourself? Present your employer with all the papers/documents and simply get them to sign them. Follow up on the application process yourself, don't ever rely on anyone else to do it for you. Let's face it, it would be our life that would be turned upside down, not the employer. Fines are now in place to stop employers from hiring an illegal but, it is the individual non-national who is most affected not the employer. They've little to gain and we have a lot to lose.
Are you working legally now? You may have caused yourself a little bit of damage by working illegally thus further applications made under your name may not be met with the best outcome, were you caught working illegally or did you stop before? What was the outcome with your immigration status? Basically, are you legally here now as a registered non-Irish national? Maybe that could have implications on your sons plight?
I'm sorry if this is sounding harsh, but I'm just trying to highlight potential problems and offer possible solutions. There is a very good immigrant office in Dublin called Immigrant Council under
www.immigrant.ie. If you contact them with your particular problems/questions they may be able to help personally?
Good luck, it's over till it's over, keep trying.
Sincerely,
Maria