If you check the INIS web page they say this are the processing times:
"If the sponsor is an Irish citizen:
We aim to process your application within 6 months after we receive all your necessary documents.
If the sponsor is a person who is entitled to apply for immediate family reunification:
We aim to process your application within 6 months after we receive all your necessary documents.
All other sponsors
We aim to process your application within 12 months after we receive all your necessary documents."
Is you sponsor and Irish citizen or from any country of the Europen Union?
My partner is an Irish citizen, my application was recieved in the Dublin office on july 7th 2016, so i hope to get an answer in two more months... I've read that the delays are only with "c" visas but not sure, there are people complaining about "d" visas waiting timesanyway too. Anyway, last year i applied for the same visa and it only took 1 month (i applied september 1 and got a reply september 28)! Didnt use it and was confident this time was going to be fast too but no..
i think i was just lucky that time.
My application was sent from Colombia to the Irish embassy in Mexico and from there to Dublin.
I hope we get a reply soon!