Overview: a surge in Irish passport applications from the UK
Nearly a quarter of a million people living in the United Kingdom applied for Irish passports in 2024, the highest number recorded since the UK formally left the European Union. The wave of applications cuts across Britain and Northern Ireland and reflects both practical responses to Brexit and longer-running family ties.
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- Department of Foreign Affairs figures show 242,772 applications in 2024.
- Just over half (53%) of those applications came from people living in Northern Ireland.
- The rise follows a dip in 2020–21 caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and restrictions on travel and consular services.
Numbers and recent trends
The scale of demand for Irish citizenship from the UK has been building for years, peaking in 2019 before the pandemic, and resuming strongly once international travel resumed. One notable indicator is the use of the Foreign Births Register by people living in Britain to claim Irish citizenship through ancestry.
- Applications from people in the UK hit 244,976 in 2019, with 49% coming from Northern Ireland.
- In 2024, 23,456 people in Britain applied via the Foreign Births Register — the highest figure since the 2016 Brexit referendum.
- By comparison, only 873 such applications were recorded in 2015, before the referendum.
Why people are applying: practical reasons and future planning
Applicants give a mix of practical and emotional reasons: easier EU travel and residency rights, a desire to restore a lost EU citizenship after Brexit, and strategic planning for future families. Immigration lawyers and community leaders say many are acting ahead of life changes to secure rights for the next generation.
- Restrictions on travel and consular services during the pandemic caused a temporary fall in applications that has since reversed.
- Some applicants want the practical benefits of EU nationality — fewer queues at passport control and freedom of movement within the EU.
- Legal advisers report a trend of younger adults applying now so their future children can automatically claim EU citizenship.
Voices: heritage, identity and the practicalities of passports
The statistics are mirrored by individual stories across the UK. For many, an Irish passport is both a practical document and a symbol of belonging to a transnational community.
- Carol Sinnott, chair of the Irish Immigration Lawyers Association, says many in their 20s or 30s apply before starting families: “A lot of people in the UK that would be entitled to apply for an Irish passport, perhaps they might be in their 20s or 30s and they haven’t yet had children but if they intend to have a family they apply for their passport before they have children because they want to ensure that their children will also be citizens of the European Union.”
- Brian Dalton, CEO of Irish in Britain, frames the trend as intergenerational diaspora: “Between 1949 and 1989 it’s estimated that about 800,000 people emigrated from Ireland. A lot of them would have come here. And so really… this is what intergenerational diaspora looks like.”
- Applicants describe a mix of nostalgia, identity and convenience — from smoother airport experiences to reclaiming a citizenship they feel was lost after Brexit.
On the ground: two applicants’ stories
In north London’s Stoke Newington, Joe Brindle is one of many who have reopened the question of citizenship. With a grandparent from Kenmare, County Kerry, he has long worked in Irish bars and sees an Irish passport as restoring an EU identity that vanished with Brexit.
- “I left the [UK] for over a decade. I was European, part of the EU when I left, came back and that was no longer the case,” Brindle said, describing a personal sense of loss and a practical reason to apply.
- Alison O’Sullivan, eligible through a grandmother from Cobh, County Cork, highlights a concrete perk: her husband and children hold Irish passports and “frequently they end up zooming through passport control whereas I’m stuck at the back.”
- Such everyday differences at airports and borders are a tangible motivator for many applicants.
Community and policy implications
The revival in applications opens questions about how Ireland, British communities and organisations in both countries respond to a renewed interest in Irish citizenship. Community leaders see opportunity; policymakers face rising demand for consular services and registration processing.
- Brian Dalton urges new passport holders to engage with Irish community networks, noting “there’s a whole architecture out there” to welcome them.
- Higher volumes put pressure on processing systems such as the Foreign Births Register and consular operations, an issue that has become visible since the post-pandemic surge.
- The trend also underlines how Brexit continues to reshape individual and family decisions about nationality and mobility across Europe.
What to expect next
If current patterns persist, demand for Irish citizenship from the UK is likely to remain elevated as younger cohorts plan for families and people adjust to a post-Brexit landscape of travel and work. For many applicants it is both an insurance policy and an act of cultural reclamation.
- Registrations via ancestry routes are likely to stay high while people who can claim citizenship act ahead of major life events.
- Authorities on both sides will need to manage processing capacity and provide clear guidance to applicants.
- Community groups are preparing to welcome more people who want to reconnect with Irish cultural and civic life.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
