Record numbers of passports have been issued this year. The latest statistics from the passport office show that the 50,000-per-month mark has been passed twice: in May 50,251 passports were issued, and 50,744 the following month. Until then the previous record for a single month was 46,169, issued in May last year.
This means that almost three million people have Irish passports. Some 2,023,926 citizens living in Ireland have one, with a further 744,727 Irish passports held by people abroad.
Applications from the North have risen dramatically, almost tripling since 1994. There were 7,779 that year, compared to 21,434 in 1999. Last year the passport office contributed £15 million to the Exchequer. That figure is expected to rise by a further £1.5 million this year.
Despite the huge increase in applications, passports are still being issued within 10 working days. This is largely due to the opening of a second passport office, in Cork, and the introduction of applications by Swiftpost.
"This has been absolutely phenomenally successful and a really great joint venture with An Post," said a spokesperson, who added that more than 70 per cent of applications are now received by Swiftpost through the 1,000 post offices in the State.
"The days when there would be huge queues in the late 1980s and early 1990s ended with Swiftpost. We want people to apply for their passports through Swiftpost."
So far this year 280,422 passports have been issued. The passport office expects to top 400,000 by the end of the year.
With the increase in applications from Northern Ireland, the Department of Foreign Affairs has introduced a low-call service number for inquiries from there: 0845 850 4321.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs said applications were likely to continue at a high rate, "especially because of people's heightened consciousness of their Irish citizenship in the new constitutional and political situation".
