Number of applications from UK citizens has doubled since vote to leave EU

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

The number of British citizens applying for Irish passports has risen to record levels, with one in five applicants coming from the UK amid continuing uncertainty over Brexit.

Almost 200,000 Irish passport applications were received from the UK this year, the department of foreign affairs in Dublin said on Monday.

In a statement, the department said that out of the total number of applications received this year by the Passport Service, 84,855 were from Northern Ireland and 98,544 were from Great Britain.

These figures represent increases of 2% and 22% respectively compared with 2017, and the UK total has more than doubled since Britain voted to leave the EU.

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Earlier this year, the Irish government increased the number of staff in its passport office to cope with the rise in the number of applications.

The department said the total of 822,000 applications were made up of a combination of first-time applicants and renewals.

Anybody in the world born to an Irish citizen is entitled to an Irish passport while those with grandparents born in Ireland also qualify. Britons living in Ireland can also qualify under residency rules.

Earlier this year, it was revealed that there had been 529 applications for Irish citizenship from British nationals living in Ireland who do not qualify for a passport through the parent or grandparent rule. This compared with 54 in 2015.