Every weekday morning Chinese students can be seen queuing outside the Irish Embassy here for visas to allow them to come to Ireland to study English.
In many cases huge sacrifices are made by families to raise the money to send their son, daughter, niece or nephew abroad to learn English or to take a postgraduate course.
One father who is hoping to send his daughter to Dublin to study English in 2003 said yesterday: "Everybody knows Ireland is one of the best countries to go to study English. The people are friendly and it is a small country." This man is saving every spare penny.
However, many Chinese students in Ireland are suffering huge abuse and exploitation - from within their own community.
Gardai in Dublin have received complaints of kidnappings, intimidation and beatings from several Chinese people in the past few months.
The number of Chinese students applying to come to Ireland to study has soared from a dribble in 1997 to more than 6,000 last year. Of the 6,000 student visa applications to the Irish Embassy here last year, about 5,000 were granted.
English-language training in Ireland for non-EU students is worth £200 million annually. This year 19 Irish third-level institutions and language colleges took part in an education fair in China to attract more students.
Fees for English-language training range from £800 for a six-week course to £4,000 for a six-month course, paid before a student applies for a visa. Students must show they can support themselves in Ireland, yet many students end up working part-time - illegally - to make ends meet.
In many cases up to six or seven students share one-bedroom apartments in Dublin to save costs.
Last month the bodies of two students aged 19 from the north-eastern Chinese city of Shenyan, Ms Liu Quing and Mr Yue Feng, were discovered in their burnt-out apartment in the centre of Dublin. A Chinese national has been charged with their murder.
The extended family of Ms Liu Quing had raised £15,000 to send her to Ireland, where she was studying English at the Swan Training Centre in Grafton Street. She worked part-time in a Chinese restaurant in Malahide.
Her friend, Mr Yue Feng, studied English at the Centre for English Studies in Dame Street and worked in a pub in Ballinteer.
Despite the publicity the students' deaths received in Chinese daily newspapers, the queues outside the Irish Embassy have not reduced. Ireland is still viewed in China as a safe haven for students.