The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has updated its travel advice for Great Britain, dated 25 September 2026, reiterating that from Monday 28 September all ferry operators on Ireland–Britain routes will require passengers to present a valid Irish passport or passport card. The advisory follows announcements by Irish Ferries and Stena Line and aims to forestall travel disruption as the last weekend of ‘photo-ID-only’ boarding comes to an end. While air carriers have required passports since February, ferries had continued to accept driving licences and other photo ID under the Common Travel Area (CTA) arrangements. Operators say the tighter checks are necessary to align with UK Carrier Liability rules and upcoming Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) enforcement. The DFA confirms that Irish citizens remain exempt from the UK ETA if they travel on an Irish passport, but emphasises that proof of citizenship will now be checked at Irish ports as well as on arrival in Britain. Business-travel managers with staff who regularly shuttle between Dublin, Rosslare or Cork and UK ports should verify that employees’ passports are in date and factor in renewal lead-times of up to ten working days for the Passport Express service. The DFA notes that emergency travel documents can be issued only in genuine crises and carry additional fees. Logistics firms using driver-accompanied freight trailers also need to update SOPs: truck drivers will be denied boarding without a passport, potentially causing supply-chain delays. Immigration practitioners welcome the clarity but warn that some non-Irish EEA nationals resident in Ireland may incorrectly assume that national ID cards remain acceptable under CTA rules; they do not. The move marks a further tightening of CTA flexibilities as the UK rolls out its post-Brexit border architecture. Observers expect the passport mandate to be extended to some land-border coach services in 2027, although both governments maintain that routine immigration controls within the island of Ireland will not be introduced.
