Ireland has accepted just over 3,000 refugees from Syria since 2011.
Over a third of them, 1,385, were aged 17 and under at the time of their arrival.
Last month marked 10 years since the war in Syria broke out.
A decade on, the Syrian refugee crisis remains the world s largest.
6.6 million Syrians have been forced to flee their country - that s the equivalent to the entire population on the island of Ireland.
The latest group of some 160 Syrian refugees arrived in Ireland in November.
Most of the people fled Syria to neighbouring countries many years ago.
They were selected to come here by the Irish Refugee Protection Programme. Under the programme they are granted their refugee status before they arrive here.
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A decade after the war began in Syria, many of those who have found themselves displaced by the conflict are now living in dreadful conditions in refugee camps in neighbouring countries and across southern Europe.
Mahmoud is a father-of-three, originally from central Syria, who has now made Enniscorthy, Co Wexford his home. He worked picking fruit for a time and is now studying online to improve his English. He wished to be identified by his first name only, in order to protect his family, some of whom are still in Syria.
Mahmoud came to Ireland from Lebanon in March 2017, as part of a UNHCR resettlement programme. He said his older brother Ahmad, a father-of-six who has already lost three children as a result of the conflict, remains at a refugee camp near Tripoli in Lebanon, without access to work or adequate food and healthcare.
Figures published by the Minister for Justice show that over two-hundred-thousand euro was spent by local Authorities in the Shannonside region on housing urban regeneration supports for refugees and asylum seekers in 2018. However, no money has been drawn down from the Department of Justice in the intervening years. According to Minister Helen McEntee, €106,650 […]