Required To carry an Irish passport When in Northern Ireland????

suvigirl · 09-01-2025 11:45PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123039599#Comment_123039599

Glib!

Thousands of people cross the border daily. They do not need to carry any identification.

I don't see why he wouldn't have an Irish passport if he is so worried. But the rest f us never bother for travel over and back, as we are not required, by law.

L1011 · 09-01-2025 11:46PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123039621#Comment_123039621

Yes, glib. Glib and useless seems to be all you can contribute on this.

"Actually, I don't need that" is not in any way useful when asked for identification - and when the documents you do have do nothing but prove you're Swiss…

The entire point of the thread, the question asked in the first post, was how to prove if asked.

wandererz · 09-01-2025 11:50PM

This

Screenshot_20250109_233535_Samsung Internet.jpg

And this

https://www.google.ie/amp/s/www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx24x47qp8no.amp

fritzelly · 10-01-2025 12:06AM

There's no border checks between the South and North so anyone arriving in to Dublin can go to the North no problem?

TheChizler · 10-01-2025 12:10AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123039615#Comment_123039615

And your passengers? Or someone cycling, or out walking the dog?

Notmything · 10-01-2025 12:14AM

Hes not in Ireland though.

He would have to use his swiss id which would identify him as swiss not irish.

There's a world of difference between someone travelling across the border everyday and someone travelling from Europe to do so whose only piece of identification says they are swiss.

L1011 · 10-01-2025 12:14AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123039677#Comment_123039677

If they have to prove their identity, same as if if they were from NI, and they could only prove Swiss residency and citizenship there would be issues.

Not needing to carry ID doesn't mean you may need to prove it, and the OP can't. Unless they just renew their Irish passport

TheChizler · 10-01-2025 12:28AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123039685#Comment_123039685

The OPs specific situation aside for a second are you saying that, outside of ports and even for argument's sake border areas, on this island authorities have the right to stop people going about their business and demand proof of citizenship, and can detain them if they're not carrying any?

wandererz · 10-01-2025 12:44AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123039704#Comment_123039704

The screenshot I posted above, the last two sentences would suggest so.

Also the news article that I posted.

Donald Trump · 10-01-2025 12:47AM

The thread title asks whether it is a requirement that he carry an Irish passport to be in NI. The answer is simple - no, it is not a requirement. He would not be committing any offence by not having one in his possession.

For practical reasons, it might be handy to have one in the extremely unlucky event that he was asked to prove he was an Irish citizen. But there is no requirement to have one to be there.

wandererz · 10-01-2025 01:05AM

No need for a passport when travelling between North and South.

However, "Immigration authorities may also require you to have valid official photo identification which shows your nationality." - That's from gov.ie.

So what's that official photo identification going to be?

If the OP's Swiss driver's licence or ID card specified a place of birth (like the Irish DL does), then that may be sufficient.

However, the problem that he then has is with his wife/partner who I believe is Swiss. Then there are the kids as well.

I used to travel Dublin - Belfast at least 3 times a month, usually by car but sometimes by train. Usually not a problem. However, since Brexit and with the high rate of asylum seekers entering, GNIB have introduced checks and so too has NI.

On the NI side, what happens if he is involved in a crash? Id's will be asked for.

TheChizler · 10-01-2025 01:23AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123039717#Comment_123039717

Those seem to be particular to crossing the border. Not going about your business in either jurisdiction.

I'm not sure how the border crossing stuff works though, there's clear profiling going on if they're only asking certain people for ID. And if they're asking everyone there doesn't seem to be mass detention of the huge numbers of people who don't routinely carry proof of citizenship.

wandererz · 10-01-2025 01:54AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123039746#Comment_123039746

It's seemingly random (the checkpoints)

The OP has a couple of options from 05 March/ 02 April - apply for a UK ETA for everyone in the family at a cost of £10 each, fly into Dublin and drive or bus or train it up North.

Or sort out Irish Passports for the whole family which will allow travel to GB&NI, and anywhere else in the world for the next 10 years. An option he doesn't want to avail of because of cost (€600) and time.

Or apply for Swiss passports for everyone and get ETA's. Again, an option he doesn't want to avail of.

wandererz · 10-01-2025 02:04AM

I suppose the OP is happy to only ever travel within the EU/EEA. A concept I cannot quite grasp because in the past few years I've travelled to the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium, Canada, USA, Barbados, Morroco, a few others and in a few weeks to Cyprus.

Most, if not all of which requires me to carry a passport for one reason or another.

The UK isn't part of the EU any longer and will be enacting their own laws, just as the US does. It needs to be accepted and to move on. The options are above, and there may be others.

suvigirl · 10-01-2025 07:33AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123039624#Comment_123039624

And insults seem to be what you are contributing. Clearly you have not spent much time in NI or had many dealings with the police there. We are not required by law to carry a passport. He will not be asked to prove his Irish citizenship.

Allinall · 10-01-2025 08:10AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123039909#Comment_123039909

You can't say for certain he will not be asked to prove his Irish citizenship.

Edited to add:

Why is this in the Politics forum? OP should know better.

L1011 · 10-01-2025 08:12AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123039909#Comment_123039909

There's no way you can say any of that with certainty. Absolutely none.

The primary one is that there are now frequent checks on border crossings, and he has no documents that will suffice to enter.

FrancieBrady · 10-01-2025 08:21AM

OP is a bit like the belligerent Unionist - wants all the protections of the GFA and UK citizenship but won't sign up to the GFA or accept the democratic decisions of the UK parliament on an ad hoc basis.

If you want the benefits of Irish citizenship meet them halfway and get proof of that. Simple.

TheChizler · 10-01-2025 09:04AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123039967#Comment_123039967

But it has about as much chance of happening to him as anyone else living in the north, would you give them the same advice?

L1011 · 10-01-2025 09:11AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123040086#Comment_123040086

Anyone living in the North would, if required, be able to give their details and prove they lived there.

The OP can only prove that they're Swiss and don't hold the required documents to enter NI.

csirl · 10-01-2025 09:51AM

The random checks are by Irish immigration officials for people entering from Northern Ireland.

The real question here is whether Irish officials would waive through someone with a Swiss national ID. I think they would as they're looking for non-EEA citizens. Note that these checks are NOT "passport control".

csirl · 10-01-2025 09:56AM

P.S. Im involved in a sport where a good % of the players are non-EU. Players going to matches in Northern Ireland dont bring passports. Authoriries waive thru buses belonging to e.g. Dublin based sports teams.

Podge_irl · 10-01-2025 10:03AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123039735#Comment_123039735

If the OP's Swiss driver's licence or ID card specified a place of birth (like the Irish DL does), then that may be sufficient.

It won't, it will have the location of his municipality where he got citizenship.

This whole question is ridiculous. Either get a passport, or fly to Dublin and travel up north and take the small but legitimate risk of being arrested and/or deported when you can't prove you have any right to be there whatsoever. And no, it doesn't undermine the GFA.

Podge_irl · 10-01-2025 10:06AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123040265#Comment_123040265

While they may get away with it, they are categorically in the wrong to not be bringing their passports with them.

CelticRambler · 10-01-2025 10:31AM

On a slight tangent, the OP posts this question as if it concerns a journery for him alone. It's not clear whether his wife and children would be accompanying him, but if so that does raise another point: are they all travelling under the same (sur)name?

I have witnessed first hand individuals and families being stopped and significantly delayed at UK entry points because a child had a different surname to the parent with whom they were travelling. In all cases, the problem was aggravated by the fact that the parent could not provide any written proof that the child was theirs, or if it wasn't, that they had the authorisation of the parent to travel.

Having a passport wouldn't (didn't) change those situations, but it's the kind of thing that, in the right/wrong circumstances, raises and eyebrow, then a flag, then a whole string of falling dominos. One minor incident with one of the children (if they're part of the travel plans) could trigger a whole series of uncomfortable questions for the OP, questions to which he would be obliged to give the "wrong" answers.

As a fellow-continental, I would agree with the OP that Irish people don't appreciate the full inconvenience of Brexit, as the CTA and GFA mitigates a lot of it. Also, because Ireland doesn't have an ID card, but everyone wants to leave the island as often as possible, so having an in-date passport is a "no brainer"; but most of the rest of Europe gets by perfectly well with an ID card and no passport, ever.

Sam Russell · 10-01-2025 11:09AM

I think it is time the Ireland introduced a National ID card.

We have a passport card that is a Passport, but not universally accepted as such. That could be used as a NID card, but it is not free to acquire nor cheap to produce.

It was attempted that the Public Services Card would become that but it was botched by not having proper legal backing, and attempted to carry personal information on a chip, and fell foul of the NDPR. The chip has now been removed.

The NID card should be required for all functions which interface with the Gov or any of its agents, and identify the carrier as a citizen, or, if not a citizen, then a national of a stated state, plus their residency status. Failing possession of an NID card, the person needs a passport

It would make life easier for so many of life's routine activities.

Peregrinus · 10-01-2025 11:14AM

In the context of his query the OP's Swiss citizenship, and his Swiss identity card, are giant red herrings. They are irrelevant.

The situation is this: As an Irish citizen, he is entitled to enter the UK without an electronic travel authorisation.

If he travels directly to the UK from outside the CTA: He'll have to establish at the UK border that he is an Irish citizen. The usual way to do this is with a passport; he doesn't have a current passport. However the border force officer just has to be satisfied that he is an Irish citizen, and he does have a measure of discretion about this. If the OP looks and sounds Irish, that's a good start. If, in addition, he carries his expired Irish passport that also helps; he must have been an Irish citizen when the passport issued and it is very, very unlikely that he has ceased to be one since. Get the officer on a good day, and the OP will probably be OK.

If he enters the UK from within the CTA (in particular, if he crosses the IRL/NI Border): There are no border controls, so the OP can enter freely. It is theoretically possible that he could be asked to establish his Irish citizenship in NI but in practice this is very, very unlikely. If he is, the same rules apply; if the officer is satisfied without the production of a valid passport, he is satisfied.

If the officer isn't satisfied, it's not a disaster. The only sanction for being unable to establish that he is an Irish citizen is that he is liable to be told to leave. No fine, no penalty, no court appearance; nothing like that. He will just have to return to IRL, where he will be no worse off than if he had never entered NI in the first place.

Yes, Brexit is a shít-show. This is just a tiny little fleck of shít in the great shítty mess that is Brexit. In the scheme of things, it's not a big deal.

suvigirl · 10-01-2025 11:32AM

I don't believe anyone seriously thinks that the PSNI are stopping Irish people and demanding they prove their Irish citizenship. It's ridiculous and it doesn't happen.

Podge_irl · 10-01-2025 11:38AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123040608#Comment_123040608

If he travels directly to the UK from outside the CTA:
He'll have to establish at the UK border that he is an Irish citizen. The usual way to do this is with a passport; he doesn't have a current passport. However the border force officer just has to be satisfied that he is an Irish citizen, and he does have a measure of discretion about this. If the OP looks and sounds Irish, that's a good start. If, in addition, he carries his expired Irish passport that also helps; he must have been an Irish citizen when the passport issued and it is very, very unlikely that he has ceased to be one since. Get the officer on a good day, and the OP will probably be OK.

Well, in this particular scenario he is highly unlikely to be allowed onto the means of transport to the UK in the first place.

wandererz · 10-01-2025 11:50AM

Good point. For the OP his current ID and expired passport may be sufficient going from South to North

His three other family members are Swiss born though and they will need ETA's to enter NI.

Chances of being stopped are extremely small, but as of April the other three will be in violation of the unless they can prove they are Irish.

It's a chance (albeit a minor one) but does one want to have that cloud hanging over one's head when on holiday?

Screenshot_20250110_115656_Samsung Internet.jpg

Required To carry an Irish passport When in Northern Ireland????

Comments