{"id":520231,"date":"2026-06-26T22:05:26","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T22:05:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/520231\/"},"modified":"2026-06-26T22:05:26","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T22:05:26","slug":"new-irish-passport-design-a-real-reflection-of-who-we-are-says-minister-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/520231\/","title":{"rendered":"New Irish passport design \u2018a real reflection of who we are,\u2019 says Minister \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

With a golden harp on the cover, a hand-drawn depiction of an Irish wolfhound on the first page and various Celtic swirls and knots throughout, the new passport is designed to reflect the nation, Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee<\/a> said as she launched the fresh design.<\/p>\n

The little red booklet that grants citizens visa-free access to 186 countries, ranking it the fourth most powerful passport in the world, now features designs of Irish wildlife, flora and landscapes that were chosen after a national consultation including over 15,000 people. <\/p>\n

McEntee said it \u201cis a real reflection of who we are\u201d as a nation. \u201cThe fantastic artwork on our passport now is a reflection of what it is to be Irish,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

The Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement the new passport is a result of \u201cworld-leading security technology, including several features being used in a passport for the first time\u201d. <\/p>\n

The passport \u201csupports Ireland\u2019s sustainability ambitions through new production techniques and environmentally friendly security inks, while maintaining the highest international standards of document security,\u201d the Department said. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe cost won\u2019t change, so if you\u2019re an adult applying for a passport it\u2019s still \u20ac75 and if you\u2019re applying for a child it\u2019s still \u20ac25, so not only will we have one of the most secure passports on the planet, it\u2019ll also be one of the cheapest,\u201d McEntee said.<\/p>\n

\u201cClose to about \u20ac8 million\u201d was spent \u201cdeveloping all of the different security measures\u201d in the passport, she added, later declining to give details of these features on the basis the information may be used to produce fraudulent documents.<\/p>\n

Artist Ailbhe Cronin drew many of the landscapes and animals featured throughout the passport. \u201cSo much research went into making sure everything was done properly,\u201d she said, such as ensuring the colour of a salmon was correct for the time of year it was swimming through Irish waters.<\/p>\n

\"PagesPages from a sample of Ireland’s next-generation passport. Photograph: Cillian Sherlock\/PA Wire<\/p>\n

In mock-ups circulated at the launch of the new travel document at the Passport Office in Balbriggan, Co Dublin (which assesses over 2,000 applications a day), one Department of Foreign Affairs employee took centre stage.<\/p>\n

\u201cRuair\u00ed \u00d3 Lochlainn\u201d was the name on the model passport, but the face next to it belongs to James Kearns, an executive officer at the Department.<\/p>\n

\"DepartmentDepartment of Foreign Affairs Minister Helen McEntee with a mock-up passport and an Irish wolfhound. Photograph: Department of Foreign Affairs\/PA Wire <\/p>\n

Kearns described featuring on the model passport as \u201ca great honour. It\u2019s something I\u2019m hugely proud of,\u201d he said, adding \u201cthere was a little bit of internal competition for it\u201d within the office. <\/p>\n

He doesn\u2019t mind that his name was changed, \u201cit fits the document by keeping it Irish,\u201d he said. But the photo itself may be a different story: \u201cI don\u2019t know, do I look better in person? Eh, I\u2019m not sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Attempt to add services ban to Occupied Territories Bill fails at committee stageOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With a golden harp on the cover, a hand-drawn depiction of an Irish wolfhound on the first page…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":520232,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[11594,615,1523,1556,61,60,43],"class_list":["post-520231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-balbriggan","tag-dublin","tag-government","tag-helen-mcentee","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/520231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=520231"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/520231\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/520232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=520231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=520231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=520231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}