Spouse of Irish citizen and stamp 4

[CalvinKlien]

Hi All,
I am inquiring on a friend's behalf who is in a messy situation and need your valuable advice. Here are the circumstances:
She is a non-EU national, married to Irish national 4 years ago.
Stamp 4 was granted 3.5 years ago.
Always lived together and both in full-time employment.
Things are not looking good between them. What are her rights in the event of her separation/divorce? Would she be able to retain her stamp 4 on her own bases?
Thanks for your advise in advance.

[meself2]

The only thing that comes to mind for me is retention of residence - Form EU5, but that is intended for spouses of other EU nationals: SOIN (Spouses of Irish Nationals) probably have different provisions in this regard. People also mentioned it is not an easy task to achieve a successful application via retention.

[_pikachu]

They're living together and aren't separated? She can apply for citizenship via naturalisation now. If she separates now, she will need a total of 5 years of residency before applying for naturalisation. The time married and time separated both count, so she'd be eligible for citizenship in 1.5 years from now. Citizenship application can take years to be completed.

[_pikachu]

Couldn't edit the post to add this...

If she wants to separate before citizenship, she can inform her immigration officer who will direct her to INIS. She will have to write a letter stating her circumstance, how long she has been in the country, and try to stress the fact that she's a habitual resident with a desire to remain in Ireland. She'll receive a letter with their decision and that is to be shown to the immigration officer immediately and every year the stamp 4 is renewed. Stamp 4 renewal when separated costs €300 a year