Work permits are issued readily to employees who occupy a key role, and are being transferred by an international company who have, or intend to establish a presence in the country. However, the rules have recently been relaxed for certain types of foreign national, for example the spouses of EU nationals, inter-company transferees, and those with a child born in Ireland, and usually in these cases, a letter from both the foreign and prospective employers is enough to secure residence for a year (although you would be advised to check the situation before proceeding).
Irish law does not allow for the granting of permanent residence as such, but if an individual has been granted a visa, and intends to stay in Ireland for longer than three months, they can apply to the police in their area of residence for a Certificate of Registration, or Green Book. This may need to be done if you are:

• Going to Ireland to start a business
• A non-EU national going to Ireland to work
• Marrying an EU or Irish national already resident in Ireland
The registration itself will then act as permission to reside, and will need to be renewed at specified intervals (for example in the case of the spouse of an EU national, annually).
Ireland is one of the few countries where the concept of domicile still comes into play
Below is a list of support groups for refugees, migrant workers and other immigrants living in Ireland.

Merchants Quay Project (Dublin) http://www.mqi.ie
During the last number of years many asylum seekers (men, women and children) from Africa, the Middle East and Europe have come to Ireland. Many services are required to facilitate their integration into Irish Society while preserving their culture, religion and traditions.In addition to the array of social services provided, the Franciscans have also provided a wide range of spiritual services to meet the needs of the parish and community.

Irish Immigrants Support Centre (Cork) http://www.nascireland.org
Nasc, the Irish Immigrant Support Centre, is a Cork-based non-Governmental
organisation that seeks to respond to the needs of immigrants in the Cork
area.

The Immigrant Cork Multicultural Newspaper (Cork) http://www.theimmigrant.org
The Immigrant, is a Cork-based non-Governmental, non political, non racist newspaper that seeks to inform immigrants, newcomers or Irish people about different issues they face in Ireland. 

Integrating Ireland (Nationwide) http://www.integratingireland.ie/
Integrating Ireland is an independent network of community and voluntary groups working in mutual solidarity to promote and realise the human rights, equality and full integration in Irish society of asylum seekers, refugees and immigrants.

Coalition Against Deportation of Irish-born Children (Nationwide) http://www.integratingireland.ie/cadic/
CADIC is a narrowly targeted Coalition, focused around the rights of a specific group of families who have children who are Irish citizens. CADIC responds to the urgent need to assist migrant parents of Irish citizens through legal advice and support, and through raising public awareness of the plight of these families.

Comhlamh Refugee Solidarity Group (Nationwide) http://cohmlamh.org
Comhlamh is an Irish voluntary organisation which campaigns for global development through education. The Comhlamh Refugee Solidarity group seeks to support the rights of asylum-seekers and combat racism.

The Irish Refugee Council (Nationwide) http://www.irishrefugeecouncil.ie/
The Irish Refugee Council is an independent, non-governmental organisation. It aims to ensure that all aspects of Irish policy on asylum-seekers and refugees (legal, cultural, social and economic) are in accordance with international human rights law. They also work to promote public understanding of asylum and refugee issues.

Reception Integration Agency (Nationwide) http://www.ria.gov.ie/
Reception Integration Agency is responsible for coordinating the provision of services to both asylum seekers and refugees, coordinating the implementation of integration policy for all refugees and persons granted leave to remain in the State and responding to crisis situations which result in large numbers of refugees arriving in Ireland within a short period of time.

The Immigrant Council of Ireland (Nationwide) www.immigrantcouncil.ie
The Immigrant Council of Ireland is a national independent non-governmental agency that responds to the emerging needs of immigrants in Ireland.

Refugee Protection Policy Group (Nationwide) http://members.lycos.co.uk/rppg/
The aim of the Refugee Protection Policy Group is to improve policy on asylum and integration in Ireland and Europe. They are also engaged in creating public awareness of the issues surrounding asylum-seekers and refugees.

Amnesty International Irish Section (Nationwide) http://www.amnesty.ie/
Amnesty International is a world-wide organisation dedicated to promoting respect for the human rights that have been laid down in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Equality Authority (Nationwide) http://www.equality.ie/
The Equality Authority is an independent body set up under the Employment Equality Act 1998. This act and the Equal Status Act 2000 outlaw discrimination in employment, vocational training, advertising, collective agreements, the provision of goods and services and other opportunities to which the public generally have access. The Equality Authority acts to promote and defend the rights established in the legislation.

The National Consultative Committee on Racism and Interculturalism (Nationwide) http://www.nccri.com/
The National Consultative Committee on Racism and Interculturalism is a partnership of government departments, agencies and non-governmental organisations. It's main aim is to provide an ongoing structure to develop programmes and actions aimed at developing an integrated approach against racism and to act in a policy advisory role to the government.

Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Nationwide) http://www.justice.ie
The website of the Irish government department. It contains information on applying for asylum.