Joe Schmidt officially became an Irish citizen today alongside one of his players, Richardt Strauss, and the IRFU's Olly Hodges.
Schmidt received his certificate of citizenry from Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald. We can't be sure whether this was the plan right from the moment he first arrived in Mullingar to play rugby in the early 1990s - but it is has panned out well for all concerned.
The twitter account @merrionstreet (in case you don't follow this twitter account, it normally just replies to Niall Horan tweets and the rest of it's output is devoted to giving out about Arsene Wenger) have slapped a few photos of the ceremony up on line, along with Today FM's Juliette Gash.
Minister @FitzgeraldFrncs presents Joe Schmidt with a certificate of naturalisation as he becomes an Irish citizen. pic.twitter.com/wy51yKHWIM — MerrionStreet.ie (@merrionstreet) September 2, 2015
And it's official Joe Schmidt's a Paddy! pic.twitter.com/eYO6pEFjNR — Juliette Gash (@JulietteGash) September 2, 2015
Joe Schmidt, Olly Hodges and Richardt Strauss all became citizens in a ceremony presided over by Judge Bryan McMahon pic.twitter.com/XsR22jRKu4
— MerrionStreet.ie (@merrionstreet) September 2, 2015
