Chinese people in Ireland refer to people born in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

or people of Chinese descent living in the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

. They constitute 0.4% of Ireland's population, at 19,447 residents.

History

The first major wave of Chinese immigration to Ireland came from

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

. This group often became business people, setting up their own restaurants and settling in Ireland permanently. A second wave began in the late 1990s when large numbers of students began to come to Ireland to study at Irish universities. In the 2010s the Irish government began the "Immigrant Investor Programme" in which non-EU citizens could purchase resident status in Ireland if they contributed to government-run projects such as social housing or nursing homes or by donating to Irish charities. The

Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

reported in 2021 that 1,088 wealthy Chinese citizens (out of a total of 1,166 entering the programme) had paid up to €1,000,000 individually to receive Irish residency. In 2018 the

Irish Independent The ''Irish Independent'' is an Irish daily newspaper and online publication which is owned by Independent News & Media (INM), a subsidiary of Mediahuis. The newspaper version often includes glossy magazines. Traditionally a broadsheet new ...

reported that Ireland had become the 3rd most popular destination in the world for wealthy Chinese immigrants after the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. A report found that in addition to the Immigrant Investor Programme, Ireland's place in the European Union, its technology sector and its low tax burden made it attractive to wealthy Chinese immigrants.

Demographics

In 2016 the Irish census recorded 19,447 Chinese people living in Ireland.

Politics

In 2020

Hazel Chu Hazel Chu (born 3 November 1980) is an Irish Green Party politician who has been a member of Dublin City Council since May 2019. She was elected Cathaoirleach (Chairperson) of the Irish Green Party in December 2019, and was succeeded by Senator ...

of the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...

became the first Irish-born person of Chinese ethnicity to become Lord Mayor of Dublin. In doing so she was also the first person of Chinese ethnicity to become the mayor of a European capital city.

Tourism

In 2015, 40,000 Chinese people visited Ireland, an increase of 10% from 2014.

Notable people

Lee Chin Lee Chin (born 8 October 1992) is an Irish hurler who plays for Wexford Senior Championship club Faythe Harriers and at inter-county level with the Wexford senior hurling team. Playing career Faythe Harriers Chin joined the Faythe Harriers ...

, GAA player *

, politician * Michael Craig-Martin, artist * Eden (Jonathon Ng), musician *

Greg O'Shea Greg O'Shea is an Australian record producer, audio engineer, mix engineer and musician, who has worked extensively in Canada, most notably with k-os. Career O'Shea started his recording career at Melbourne's Metropolis Studios in 1990. He w ...

, rugby player *

Jason Sherlock Jason Sherlock (born 10 January 1976 in Dublin) is an Irish former Gaelic footballer who played at senior level for the Dublin county team between 1995 and 2010. He played most of his club football for Na Fianna in Glasnevin in the northern su ...

, footballer and Gaelic footballer * Da-Wen Sun, academic *

Thaddea Graham Thaddea Graham (born 29 March 1997) is a Northern Irish actress. She is known for her roles in the Sky One series ''Curfew'', the Netflix series ''The Letter for the King'' and ''The Irregulars'', the BBC One miniseries '' Us'', '' Doctor Who: F ...

, actress

References

{{Immigration to the Republic of Ireland Irish Irish Ethnic groups in Ireland