Has anyone used their Irish Drivers Licence to fly with Ryanair to the UK?

Andy From Sligo

hi - I was thinking of visiting my Father who lives in Luton, he is not in the best of health and thought it would be nice to meet up - so Fly from Knock to Luton.

I have flew with aer lingus in the past to UK and all they have required is a Irish Drivers Licence as a form of identity which I have . But they do not fly to Luton, I think its Heathrow so then would have to travel from Heathrow to Luton.

I am getting no-where with Ryanair , they say that they only accept a Passport and that it is company policy, it does not look like its an official or lawful thing that you have to have a passport to fly from Ireland to the UK as far as I can see at the moment.

My Passport run out years ago and it will cost me something like over €130 to renew it and simply cannot afford that at present and then flights ontop and somewhere to stay etc….

So has anyone managed to get Ryanair to accept a Irish drivers licence , even if it was a one off special . Have I got no other aveues to explore and just bite the bullet and go with Aer Lingus or Buy a passport. In the normal scheme of things I am a terrible traveler and never go anywhere else and have no plans or desire or finances to visit any other countries so (I feel) buying a passport will be a complete waste of money for me.

any ideas?
Thanks.

HeidiHeidi

Ryanair only accept a passport.

And a passport will cost you €75, not sure where you're getting €130 from.

ELM327

The law states that you must provide a form of identification to travel within the CTA. Ryanair have a policy over and above the requirement, to also require passport.

L1011

You will have to fly with Aer Lingus (or another non-Ryanair airline from another airport, e.g. Easyjet Belfast-Luton, or go by sea). There is absolutely no way you will get Ryanair to take a driving licence.

elperello

If you do the sums you may find that you will recoup the price of the passport quite quickly given the difference in flight prices plus the cost of transferring from Heathrow to Luton.

You won't get Ryanair to change their policy.

artanevilla

The law is that you only need valid ID to travel between Ireland and Britain. Ryanair have no obligation in that regard when it comes to allowing you on their aircraft.

Andy From Sligo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122132706#Comment_122132706

from here for one , and I think the price has just recently gone up:
https://total.law/ie-to-uk/residency/applying-for-a-british-passport/#:~:text=British%20passport%20cost&text=Applying%20for%20a%20child's%20passport,%E2%82%AC106.85)%20for%20a%20child.

banie01

The CTA grants a right to free movement between UK & IRE to citizens of either country. A driving license isn't proof of citizenship, albeit Aer Lingus and AFAIK the ferry companies will accept it as described facto proof. That said if a UK border force officer stops you? They will likely check for proof of your citizenship, now that is a very, very rare occurrence. I am just caveating the risk of using only your license.

You may also be asked by an immigration officer to prove that you are a citizen of Ireland or the UK, so you should carry a passport with you

HeidiHeidi

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122132953#Comment_122132953

Ah, you didn't say that it was a British passport you were talking about.

Still doesn't change the fact that you won't get on a Ryanair plane without a passport, unfortunately.

CuriousCucumber

Much like some nightclubs only accepting driver licences or passports, it's up to the provider of the service to determine what form of IDs they accept.
While the UK and Ireland allow movement of people with a valid ID, Ryanair, dont want the hassle of having to ensure all IDs are valid, and decided that they will only accept Passports.
If that doesn't work for you, then you need to find another means of transport

Cookiemunster

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122132953#Comment_122132953

You said you were in Ireland. That's a British passport.

A 10 year Irish passport costs €75 plus €9.50 P&P.

Andy From Sligo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122133013#Comment_122133013

I would have to change citizenship and last time I checked it was over a thousand euro to become a Irish Citizen . Been here 33years - you would think I qualify for a free one by now LOL

HeidiHeidi

You're sure you don't have an Irish grandparent down the back of the sofa which would entitle you to an Irish passport?

Andy From Sligo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122133101#Comment_122133101

yeah of course, everyone has lol - my gran had a maiden surname of Tuohy, where is that from galway is it?
Still dont think its enough 😆

HeidiHeidi

https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/moving-country/irish-citizenship/irish-citizenship-through-birth-or-descent/

Some light reading for you

mondeoman72

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122133059#Comment_122133059

If you have immediate Irish descent, it's simple. I did it recently as I couldn't be arsed with queues for "other passports" going into cologne last year

mondeoman72

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122133139#Comment_122133139

I think it is enough. If you want to post some more details or pm me, I will assist, otherwise, it's aerlingus or someone else. Ryanair says no. Just need to double check

Nigel Fairservice

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122133139#Comment_122133139

If you're born abroad to a parent born in Ireland you're already an Irish citizen. If you were born abroad but have an Irish born grandparent you apply for Foreign Birth Registration. Failing any of that you could apply for naturalisation. Renewing your UK passport is probably the easiest option out of all of them.

Best get yourself some kind of passport as you're stranded otherwise. Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.

mondeoman72

Ok so. Im a brit but parents and grandparents are irish. I claimed irish passport last year due to queues in airport - Cologne. Did it again last month for mother in law. She is Belfast, I did her application and hers landed last month. Its not a big deal. You will need LONG birth cert, maybe parents LONG birth certs and poss marriage cert.

Again. If you are serious, we can give you the pointers you need.

Andy From Sligo

I've a darn good suspicion that my great grandfather (my Gran's Dad) was Irish and a Tuohy and then my Grandmother had maiden name of Tuohy, but was born in east end of London - so that's put that avenue to rest …..

mondeoman72

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122133294#Comment_122133294

You need documents showing grandparents or sooner. Other than that, you need the long way and costs money. If you are interested in finding connections that may assist, this lassie is superb. My mate is called Kelly, and she traced his family to ferns and that is helping him understand if he can get an irish passport. She is based in Dublin and works magic.

https://ckresearchanddesign.com/

Andy From Sligo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122133328#Comment_122133328

Thank you for all that helpful advice you have given

Marcusm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122132736#Comment_122132736

can you identify the law? I full agree that Ryanair is entitled to determine which ID it will accept but your post suggests that ID must be carried to walk across the border with Northern Ireland. Up until recently, BA was quite happy to accept an Exec Club card or even a credit card as ID. It does now require photographic ID but has historically been very flexible for the very reason that there is no legal requirement to carry photographic ID in either country.

Caranica

Leaving the legal question above out of it, every ryanair flight I've arrived into Ireland in in the last 6 months has been met at the terminal by immigration churching checking passports. You need to be able to prove citizenship before they let you in to the building, they're trying to root out the people who've "lost their passports" on the flight and claim asylum.

trellheim

Ryanair can require anything they want to let you on their airplane.

This is nothing to do with border laws.

There is no requirement for a passport for a Ryanair UK internal flight, as long as its photo ID that matches the name.

International flights are different for Ryanair.

Noxegon

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122134836#Comment_122134836

You've clearly taken a very different set of Ryanair flights to me. I haven't had that happen once, and I've taken quite a few.

john boye

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122135454#Comment_122135454

Do they accept photo ID on Dublin - Kerry flight over here?

ELM327

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122134699#Comment_122134699

Plenty of links in this document from citizens information,which, interestingly enough, would indeed confirm that you should carry identification if you are going to the north and relying on the provisions of the CTA. You would need to prove that you are a citizen of Ireland (or UK).

https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/government-in-ireland/ireland-and-the-uk/common-travel-area-between-ireland-and-the-uk/

Marcusm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122135924#Comment_122135924

”should” and there is a legal requirement are completely different standards; as I thought.

Caranica

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122135640#Comment_122135640

Mostly UK but also France and Portugal

Qprmeath

Seen a passport check happen on an Ryanair Amsterdam - Dublin flight. Passports checked on the plane before we got off.