Almost 6,000 Irish babies were born abroad last year, the Department of Foreign affairs has revealed.

New figures show that the department registered 5,826 people for Irish citizenship through Foreign Births Registration in 2015. The majority of those applications were made in countries with a large Irish community, such as the United States, Britain, Australia, Canada and South Africa.

The new figures show a slight increase on last year, when some 5,500 babies were born abroad. In 2014, there was a 10pc increase on babies born abroad when compared to 2013.

A baby with a grandparent born in Ireland or parents who were deemed Irish citizens can be registered as Irish citizens.

Meanwhile, the department also provided consular assistance to more than 2,300 Irish citizens in 2015. This included help given to the families of some 263 people who died while abroad.

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The families of the five Irish students who died in the Berkeley balcony collapse tragedy were among those included in last year's consular assistance cases.

"We also witnessed the horrific loss of life in the terrorist attacks at Sousse, Tunisia, and injury in the later Paris atrocities," Foreign Affairs minister Charlie Flanagan said.

"My department also responded to natural disasters, including the two earthquakes in Nepal," he added.

The department also issued 2,835 certificates for couples marrying abroad last year.

Herald