Radio Nova’s Clint Drieberg thrilled to become Irish citizen

Radio Nova’s Clint Drieberg will travel from his home in Dublin on Tuesday to take part in a citizenship ceremony in Killarney, which is one of only a couple being held in Ireland this year.

Joining Clint at his big day will be his partner of 10 years and fellow Aussie David Mitchell, who already has an Irish passport thanks to his grandfather being born in Dublin.

“It’s fantastic I’m about to become an Irish citizen,” beamed Clint.

“The process is not easy but now that we are at the end of it, it’s great. I never thought that it would ever be happening at all because it just drags on and on.

“After five years you are able to apply after being in the country,” he said.

“Then there is no timeline. You literally put your application in.

“We used a lawyer to help us. She has got people who have been waiting eight years with no word. She has people who got it within three months. You put your application in and you just wait.”

Clint and David own an apartment in Dublin, where Clint works as a programme director with Radio Nova, while David is a lawyer in the Central Bank.

Clint has been with Nova for seven years now.

“I thought ‘it will be a laugh for a year or two’,” he said. “As we spent the second and third year here it got to the stage it was like ‘maybe if we do the five years I can get an Irish passport’, how great would that be, to have two passports? I can still keep my Aussie one, I can be Irish, I can travel Europe without queuing [for] long.

“Aussies and Irish are very similar. It was something I never thought of until we got here and as time rolled on it just made sense. I like to think I could do some Irish lessons and learn the language.”

Clint has interviewed lots of celebrities through his job, from Jamie Oliver to Abba’s Bjorn and Graham Norton.

“They allowed me into his rehearsals at the TV studio,” he says.

“Matthew McConaughey was there, Miley Cyrus. I had time on the couch with Graham, but I sat on his chair to interview him on the guest chair.”