Irish passport

Physical appearance

Irish passport booklets use the standard European Union design, with a machine-readable identity page and 34 or 64 visa pages. The cover bears the harp, the national symbol of Ireland. The words on the cover are in both of Ireland's official languages, Irish and English. The top of the cover page reads An tAontas Eorpach and the equivalent in English, European Union. Just above the harp are the words Éire and its equivalent in English, Ireland. The identity page on older Irish passport booklets was on the back cover of the booklet. Newly issued passport booklets have been redesigned with additional security features. The identity page is now a plastic card attached between the front cover and the first paper page (the "Observations" page).

The ePassport or biometric passport, was launched on 16 October 2006 with the first ePassports presented that day by the Minister for Foreign Affairs.

The information page ends with the machine readable zone starting with P<IRL.

Request page

Irish passport booklets contain a note on the inside cover which states:

In Irish:

In English:

Formerly, the request was also made in French, but this has been discontinued as newer versions of the passport were introduced.

Languages

The data page/information page is printed in Irish, English and French. Each detail includes a reference number (e.g. "1 SLOINNE/SURNAME/NOM"). This reference number can be used to look up translations into any other EU language, as all EU passports share a standard text layout.

Security features

The latest Irish passport booklets have security features designed to make them difficult to forge or be mistaken as forgeries. They have also been optimised for machine reading.

The identity page of the passport booklet has been moved to the front of the passport and is now printed on a plastic card. This allows easier machine reading of the passport, as the official has to spend less time finding the identity page in the passport. The top-right corner of the passport booklet contains the biometric chip, which contains a copy of the information contained on the identity page, and a facial scan of the holder. To prevent unauthorised parties remotely accessing the information stored in the RFID biometric chip, the machine readable zone of the identity page must be scanned to unlock it. This safeguard is known as Basic Access Control.

The title of the identity page "Éire/Ireland/Irlande" "Pas/Passport/Passeport" is printed in colour-changing ink, which varies from light green to gold-red, depending on the angle of the light shining on it. The background of the identity page is a complex celtic design, with the words "Éire Ireland" occasionally woven into the design.

The identity picture is now greyscale, and is digitally printed onto the surface of the page, rather than the actual photos sent by the applicant being pasted onto the page. The Irish harp is superimposed as a hologram onto the bottom right corner of the photograph. The words "Éire Ireland" are embossed several times into either side of the identity page. This embossing partially covers the photograph as an added security measure. A likeness of the photograph of the applicant is pin-punched into the surface of the identity page, and can be viewed when the identity page is held to light.

Under UV light, fluorescing fibres are visible on every page except the data page. Article 2 of the Irish constitution is also visible under UV light and is printed in both Irish and English on alternate pages. The newer versions of the Irish passport also reveal a topographical map of Ireland on the observations page and Irish landmarks, like the Samuel Beckett Bridge and the Aviva Stadium in Dublin as well as poems in Irish, English and Ulster Scots.

Passport Card

A credit card-sized Passport Card was introduced on 5 October 2015. It was originally announced as being available in mid-July 2015 but was subsequently delayed. It conforms to international standards for biometric and machine readable travel documents promulgated by ICAO.

Unlike the United States Passport Card, which carries text stating that it can not be used for air travel or outside a limited geographical area, the Irish passport card does not bear any text restricting the mode or geographical area of travel. However, at introduction, it was only publicised as having been approved to enter and exit their territories by countries in the EEA. A few days afterwards it was confirmed that Switzerland had given its approval.

The Irish Passport Card is a passport in card format and is intended to be usable as a travel document in most European countries, in a similar way to national identity cards elsewhere in the EEA. It is defined as an identity card in several other EU countries, since that is what their laws call such cards. The Irish passport card uses the designation "IP" in its machine readable zone (MRZ) (the "P" is without meaning in the MRZ standard). Although ICAO began preparatory work on machine readable passport cards as early as 1968, Ireland the first country to issue one for air travel and the Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Charles Flanagan, highlighted the novelty and utility of Ireland's Passport Card at its 2015 introduction.

It costs €35 and is valid for five years or the validity of the bearer's passport booklet, whichever is less. It is only issued to Irish citizens aged 18 years or over.

Unlike national identity cards issued in other parts of the EU, an Irish passport card can not be issued unless the bearer already has a valid passport booklet but, because of its convenient size and durable format compared to the Irish passport booklet, it will also serve purposes similar to that of national identity cards in other parts of the EU: identity and age verification, and intra-EU travel.

Security features

The long-delayed and recently issued Irish passport cards have security features designed to make them difficult to forge or be mistaken as forgeries. They have also been optimised for machine reading.

The top-left corner of the passport card contains the biometric chip, which contains a copy of the information printed on the card, and a facial scan of the holder. To prevent unauthorised parties remotely accessing the information stored in the RFID biometric chip, the machine readable zone of the identity page must be scanned to unlock it. This safeguard is known as Basic Access Control.

The designation of the document "Éire/Ireland/Irlande" "Pas/Passport/Passeport" is printed in colour-changing ink, which varies from light green to gold-red, depending on the angle of the light shining on it. The background for the front of the passport card is a complex Celtic design, with the words for Éire / Ireland" appearing in the official languages of the EU as part of the design.

The identity picture is greyscale, and is digitally printed onto the surface of the special security polycarbonate. The Irish harp is superimposed as a hologram onto the bottom right corner of the photograph. A likeness of the applicant in a hologram photo on a strip on the back is the first time this security feature will be used on travel documents according to the Irish security printing firm DLRS Group that assisted in its development.

Ireland’s passport card was joint winner of the Best Regional ID Document at the High Security Printing Europe Conference in Bucharest, Romania in March 2016.

Visa free travel

Visa requirements for Irish citizens are travel restrictions placed upon citizens of Ireland by the authorities of other states. In 2013, Irish citizens had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 171 countries and territories, jointly ranking the Irish passport 4th worldwide according to the Visa Restrictions Index.

Notable cases of purported fraudulent use

An Irish passport, legitimate or fraudulent, is viewed by many – including intelligence services and journalists – as a highly valuable and 'safe' document due to Ireland's policy of neutrality.

Eligibility for an Irish passport

Irish passports may only be issued to individuals holding Irish citizenship. Irish nationality law is extended to include Northern Ireland.

All Irish citizens have a constitutional right to an Irish passport, subject to certain limitations. Passport booklets are generally valid for 10 years; children may apply for 3- or 5-year passports (depending on their age). Passport cards are only issued to bearers of passport booklets aged 18 or older and are valid for 5 years or the validity of the corresponding passport booklet, whichever is the lesser period.

There was a post-Brexit Irish passport surge, breaking previous records with over 700,000 passports issued by end November 2016.

History

The Irish Free State was created in 1922 as a dominion of the British Commonwealth modelled explicitly on the Dominion of Canada. At the time dominion status was a limited form of independence and while the Constitution of the Irish Free State referred to citizens of the Free State, the rights and obligations of such citizens were expressed to apply only "within the limits of the jurisdiction of the Irish Free State". The first time Irish passports were used was by the Irish delegation to the League of Nations in August 1923.

The Irish Free State first notified the British government that it proposed to issue its own passports in 1923. The Irish initially proposed that the description they would give their citizens in their passports would be "Citizen of the Irish Free State". According to a report from The Irish Times the first time that Irish passports were used was by the Irish delegation to the League of Nations in August 1923. The British Government objected to this. It insisted that the appropriate description was "British subject", because, inter alia, the Irish Free State was part of the British Commonwealth. The Irish government considered the British viewpoint. The Governor-General subsequently informed the British Government that the description that would generally (there were some exceptions) be used would be "Citizen of the Irish Free State and of the British Commonwealth of Nations". Without reaching agreement, the Irish government issued its first passports to the general public on 3 April 1924, using this description.

The British Government was not satisfied with this compromise. It instructed its consular and passport officers everywhere, that Irish Free State passports were not to be recognised if the holder was not described in the passport as a "British Subject". This led to considerable practical difficulty for Irish Free State citizens abroad with many having to obtain British passports in addition to their Irish Free State passports. The British Consular Officers would also confiscate the Irish Free State passports, a practice the Irish authorities regarded as "very humiliating". The issue continued to be a thorny one until the early 1930s.

In 1939, two years after the adoption of the Constitution of Ireland renaming the state "Ireland", the Irish decided to make significant changes to the form of Irish passports. As a courtesy, the Irish authorities notified the British authorities. In a memorandum dated 1 March 1939 entitled "The Form of Eire Passports", the British Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs, Thomas W.H. Inskip, informed his Government of developments which had recently taken place "regarding the form of passports issued by the Government of Eire". In the memorandum, the Secretary of State reported that "hitherto [the passports] (which have not, I understand, been amended since 1936 have borne two indications of relationship to the British Commonwealth of Nations". These, the memorandum noted, were the reference to the King including his full title in the "request" page; and a front page, where underneath the words "Irish Free State" (in Irish, English and French) appear the words "British Commonwealth of Nations". The proposals notified by the Irish authorities included replacing the reference to "Irish Free State" with "Ireland"; amending the "request" page to drop reference to the King; and dropping the reference to the "British Commonwealth of Nations". The Secretary of State proposed that he reply to the Irish authorities in terms that "His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom greatly regrets the proposed elimination of the King's name from Éire passports; that in their view, the omission, when it comes to be known, is bound to create a bad impression in the UK and to widen the separation which Mr de Valera deplores between Éire and Northern Ireland". The Secretary of State noted in his memorandum that to "say more than this might raise questions [relating to whether or not Ireland was still in the Commonwealth] which it was the object of the statement of the 30th December 1937, to avoid". This was a reference to the communique published by Downing Street noting the adoption of the Irish Constitution, stating that in their view Ireland continued to be part of the Commonwealth and affirming the position of Northern Ireland as part of the United Kingdom.

Ultimately, the Irish proceeded with their plans including that the term "Citizen of the Irish Free State and of the British Commonwealth of Nations" would be replaced with "Citizen of Ireland". This has remained the description up to present time, with current Irish passports describing the holder as a "citizen of Ireland" on the request page and giving the holder's nationality as "Éireannach/Irish" on the information page.

After the Brexit referendum on 23 June 2016, tens of thousands of Britons, especially residents in Northern Ireland, applied for an Irish Passport.

"Sale" of passports in 1988–1998

A 1988 scheme was designed to draw foreign investment into Ireland, described in a 1998 Seanad debate as the "Passports for investment scheme" Each had to invest $1,000,000 and live in Ireland for varying periods. The scheme was scrapped in 1998. Before long it was being described as the "sale" of passports in the media, but only 143 passports were passed on under the scheme. Notable applicants included some of the Getty family, Sheikh Khalid bin Mahfouz and Khalid Sabih Masri. Masri had lent IR£1,100,000 to the petfood company of then-Taoiseach Albert Reynolds.

Another was Norman Turner from Manchester, whose proposed investment was to build a casino in Dublin's Phoenix Park. Turner had entertained Bertie Ahern and had paid £10,000 in cash to his party, and received his passport later in 1994. The matter was revealed during the Mahon Tribunal hearings in 2008; Mr Ahern commented that Mr Turner had an Irish mother, and that in 2007 some 7,000 other passport applications were assisted in some way by politicians.

The 2006 Moriarty Tribunal report covered the grant of passports to a Mr Fustok and some of his friends. Mr Fustok had previously bought a yearling horse from the then Taoiseach Charles Haughey for IR£50,000. The Tribunal considered that "The explanation advanced for the payment, namely that it was in consideration for the purchase of a yearling, is highly unconvincing and improbable".

Passport-granting officials have also sold passports illegally, notably Kevin McDonald while working in London, who had sold "hundreds" of passports to criminals for up to £15,000 each in the 1980s, grossing $400,000. McDonald was prosecuted in 1989 and was sentenced to 21 months in jail.