Five of the top seven counties where first time adult applicants for Irish passports were resident in 2023 were in the north.
New figures released by the Department of Foreign Affairs reveal more than 12,000 new applications were received from counties Antrim and Down alone.
Only Dublin had a higher number of new applications than those two northern counties, likely large numbers from the greater Belfast area, the DFA reported.
More than one million applications for Irish passports, for first time and renewals, were received in 2023, with the Irish government predicting approximately 950,000 will have been issued by the turn of the year.
Huge numbers of first time applications for children were also received from the north, with over 12,000 from Antrim, Down and Derry.
In total, over 18,000 applications for new passports for adults were received from the north, with Antrim, Down, Derry, Tyrone and Armagh in five of the top seven areas listed as resident.
According to the figures, 7.438 first time applications were received from Antrim, 4,809 from Down, 2,398 from Derry, 1,897 from Tyrone, 1,609 from Armagh and 553 from Fermanagh.
The Tánaiste Micheál Martin said the passport service has delivered an “enormous volume of passports” over the past 12 months.
“Between 2,000 and 3,000 passports are currently being issued every day and over 950,000 passports will have been issued by the end of the year,” said Mr Martin, who also heads up the ministries of foreign affairs and defence.
Passport Online has been rolled out to an additional 175 countries for first time applicants this year, meaning that 99.9% of all first-time and renewal applicants around the world can apply online, the Department of Foreign Affairs said.
“Online enhancements introduced in 2023 have also simplified the process for first time applicants, especially when applying for a child’s first passport,” the department said, adding the majority of online adult renewal applications are issued within two working days.
The processing time for Foreign Birth Registration (FBR), which is available to people who are born abroad and claim Irish citizenship through descent, has decreased by 75% from over two and a half years in 2022 to 8 months, the department said. The service has approved over 36,000 FBR applications this year.
“The performance of the Customer Service Hub in particular has been exceptional,” Mr Martin said.
“The Hub is consistently answering all calls and has handled over 600,000 queries from citizens this year. This hard work and commitment to public service has resulted in the Passport Service being recognised as the best customer service brand in the public sector
“Following the challenges faced in 2021 and 2022, these achievements are truly something to take pride in. I want to pay tribute to the passports team across the country who continue to work hard to deliver an excellent service for our citizens.”
“Looking forward to 2024, my department is expecting another busy year for the passport service. I would encourage anyone who is considering travel to check that their passport is in date, and if they need to renew their passport or apply for the first time, to use Passport Online. This is the quickest, easiest and most cost effective way to apply for your passport.
“My department will continue to work to ensure that our services meet the needs of our citizens in 2024.”