More than one in five applications for Irish passports is now coming from the UK as Brexit uncertainty continues.

Over 21% of applications for Irish passports last year were made by people living in Northern Ireland and Britain, end of year figures reveal.

The number of people living in the UK applying for Irish passports rose dramatically again in 2018, with 22% more people applying than in 2017. Some 98,544 applications were made by people living in Britain - more than double the number made in 2015, before the shock result of the referendum triggered the UK's slow march towards leaving the European Union.

As of mid-December there were also 84,855 applications from people living across the border, a 2% increase on the previous year. Contingency planning is under way in the Republic to prepare for an expected surge in applications if the UK crashes out of the EU in March.

Officials predict that up to 300,000 additional passport applications may flood in if Britain leaves the EU with no deal.

Up to 100 additional staff are expected to be needed if there is a no-deal exit.

Overall, there were 822,581 passports issued as of December 14, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs. More than 292,000 of those were issued to children, with the youngest applicant aged just two weeks.

Of the 529,623 passports issued to adults, the oldest applicant was 99 years old.

Irish passport office staff remain under pressure with more than 6,500 applications made in a single day during the peak period. The online service for renewing passports was extended this year, adding to the continued high uptake.

The UK also topped by a significant margin the list of countries where residents used the online system to apply for a passport, with 35,084 applications lodged.

In second place was the United States, which saw 7,199 applicants use the online system.

More than 7,000 passports were stolen or lost last year prompting Tanaiste Simon Coveney to warn citizens to take care with the "valuable" document.

He said 2018 was a record-breaking year with a total of 822,581 travel documents issued.

Belfast Telegraph