{"id":53158,"date":"2025-09-30T17:04:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-30T17:04:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/53158\/"},"modified":"2025-09-30T17:04:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T17:04:09","slug":"uk-government-in-discussion-with-irish-administration-over-digital-id-scheme","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/53158\/","title":{"rendered":"UK Government \u2018in discussion\u2019 with Irish administration over digital ID scheme"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The UK Government is \u201cin discussion\u201d with the Irish Government over a proposed digital ID scheme.<\/p>\n<p>Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced last week that the new ID system would be introduced by 2029, and would be mandatory for people working in the UK.<\/p>\n<p>The scheme, dubbed the \u201cBrit-card\u201d, has been universally opposed by political parties in Northern Ireland, with DUP leader Gavin Robinson describing it as the \u201cwrong approach\u201d, while Sinn Fein vice president Michelle O\u2019Neill said it was \u201cludicrous\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>It is expected to be subject to consultation and may require legislation.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1759251325276_1.jpg--.jpg\" width=\"640\" alt=\"\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn said the proposed scheme was the \u201cway of the future\u201d and said London was working with Dublin to make it operable in Northern Ireland in terms of people who crossed the border to work.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople in Northern Ireland at the moment already have to provide documentation if they are seeking a new job,\u201d he told the BBC.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt the moment, it could be a British passport, an Irish passport, it could be a settled status if they\u2019re EU citizens, it could be a biometric residence permit.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is the way of the future, I think everybody recognises\u2026 it\u2019s going to make it easier for people to access services.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019ll be a consultation, and we will ensure that the Good Friday Agreement is upheld in letter and spirit, and the Common Travel Area because, of course, I understand that people in Northern Ireland under the Good Friday Agreement, can identify as British or Irish or both.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mr Benn added: \u201cWe will need to talk to the Irish Government. We\u2019ve already started those discussions about how we\u2019re going to operate this in practice.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe will find a way of making this work but it is the future and it will also help to combat illegal migration.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe will find a way forward through the consultation, and I would invite people to come and contribute.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>ADVERTISEMENT &#8211; CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<p>ADVERTISEMENT &#8211; CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<p>ADVERTISEMENT &#8211; CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<p>ADVERTISEMENT &#8211; CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<p>ADVERTISEMENT &#8211; CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<p>ADVERTISEMENT &#8211; CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<p>ADVERTISEMENT &#8211; CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<p>ADVERTISEMENT &#8211; CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<p>ADVERTISEMENT &#8211; CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The UK Government is \u201cin discussion\u201d with the Irish Government over a proposed digital ID scheme. Prime Minister&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":53159,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[38165,38166,26188,65,61,60,69,43,3415],"class_list":{"0":"post-53158","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ireland","8":"tag-digital-id","9":"tag-dup","10":"tag-gavin-robinson","11":"tag-hilary-benn","12":"tag-ie","13":"tag-ireland","14":"tag-michelle-oneill","15":"tag-news","16":"tag-sinn-fein"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53158","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=53158"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53158\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}