Excessive delay in receiving ceremony invitation. What is the next step?

[cn_ie]

Hi all,
My spouse applied for naturalisation in April 2023 (paper application, residing in NI) and received approval in July 2024 with subsequent payment confirmation the following month. Since this point we have not received a ceremony invitation (yes, we have been checking the spam folder too). We have made contact by email around 5 months ago and submitted a query on the portal around 3 months ago, but received no response. Note that her application does not show on the portal, however this may be due to the application being made on her previous passport that has since expired.

We are evaluating further steps. We are informed legal action will cost around €1500 (non-recoverable) in an attempt to compel the department to issue an invitation. Due to the significant cost involved, this would be our last resort.

We are considering physically attending the CCD at the time of the September ceremonies to see if there is a member of staff from the DoJ who can speak to us.

In the meantime I have made contact with a Sinn Fein councillor in our NI constituency to see if there's a TD willing to help. I have yet to receive a reply.

Can anyone advise on which of these options is more likely to help, or whether there is anything else we can try? I would also like to know if anyone experienced a similar delay and how they resolved the issue. Many thanks.

[littlerr]

As always, the only way that will guarantee a written response is to send them a letter. Use registered mail if necessary.