The British Government’s plans to introduce national IDs in 2005 caused concern in Dublin, with fears that the plan could discriminate against Irish citizens living in Northern Ireland and Britain.
The plan, which has been revived by current British prime minister, Keir Starmer, features in a large number of the files released by Irish government departments to the National Archives.
Though pushed by London in an effort to curb terrorism, illegal migration and identity fraud and to ease public administration, ID cards could have complicated the century-old Common Travel Area between Ireland and the UK, Irish officials feared.
The legislation became law the following year, but was plagued by problems, ran significantly over budget and was never fully rolled out – before it was finally scrapped by Conservatives when they came to power in 2010.
READ MORE
The British Labour government, which returned to power in 2024, has revived plans to introduce ID cards – commonly, but incorrectly, known as “Brit Cards” – before the next Westminster elections in 2029.
Concerned about the implications for, and the attitude of Dublin, British Home Office officials briefed the Department of Justice in Dublin and Irish Foreign Affairs officials throughout 2005.
The implications for the Irish-born community in Britain were raised frequently, too, by Irish officials, especially when the British side made clear that ID cards would be compulsory for everyone living for more than three months in the UK.
Following this, the British side clarified that an ID card could be produced that would not include the holder’s nationality, though it could not be used as a travel document within Europe.
“There may be some elements in the Irish community who will be reluctant for the British state to maintain information on them,” a summary of a lengthy discussion between Irish officials noted.
“ID cards, for some who lived through the 1970s and 1980s, will be objected to as a matter of principle and gut instinct, and it may prove difficult to persuade them otherwise. It is difficult to gauge the degree of opposition, or reluctance,” the note goes on.
From the beginning, the Irish side had concerns that the ID cards could interfere with the rights offered by the 1998 Belfast Good Friday Agreement to people living in Northern Ireland to be Irish, British, or both.
Some people could be unhappy about how their nationality would be displayed, while those considering themselves as dual-nationals “may not be happy to have themselves designated as only British, or Irish”.
Equally, the ID cards could be problematic for those “living on one side of the Irish Border, and working on the other”, while officials fretted, too, about the “possible impacts” on free movement and North/South co-operation.
The files make clear that the Irish Government reluctantly accepted that the ID plan was not in itself objectionable, given that 25 EU states - “all apart from the UK, Ireland, Denmark and Latvia” - already had such cards.
British home secretary Charles Clarke had been “very open” in a meeting with the then Minister for Justice Michael McDowell early on, it was noted.
In June 2005, Home Office officials, Trudy Payne and Stephen Harrison said obligations under the 1998 Belfast Agreement had been met because NI residents “were free to designate themselves as Irish, British, or have no nationality listed”.
“There may in the future be many more people claiming dual nationality than there are now” in Northern Ireland”, the officials noted, but added that an ID card without citizenship details “would be the obvious choice for them”.
By September 2005, the Home Office’s Trudy Payne noted that the 7/7 July bombings had “stiffened resolve both for, and against” ID cards, noting Charles Clarke’s comment that they would not have prevented the attack, since all involved were British-born.
[ MI5 has ‘blind spot’ over Northern Ireland Troubles, PSNI chief saysOpens in new window ]
