🇬🇧 🇮🇪 🇪🇺 🌐 Passports Required on Ireland–Britain Ferries from 28 September
:.
From 28 September, Irish Ferries and Stena Line will require a valid passport or Irish passport card at check-in on Republic of Ireland–Great Britain routes (Dublin–Holyhead, Rosslare–Pembroke/Fishguard), in both directions and for every passenger, including British and Irish citizens and children. Driving licences, national ID cards, student cards and other photo IDs will no longer be accepted.
Operators say UK Border Force now demands full passenger data (name, sex, date of birth, nationality) before boarding, which only a machine-readable passport or passport card supplies. The Common Travel Area still lets British and Irish citizens travel without a legal passport duty, but the carriers will refuse boarding without one. Non-Irish, non-British travellers may also need a UK Electronic Travel Authorisation. Northern Ireland routes are not covered by this change.
Similar tighter document and data checks already apply on other sea and tunnel crossings into the UK and the Schengen area. Channel ferries and LeShuttle at Dover/Folkestone use the EU Entry/Exit System, which registers non-EU passports and biometrics instead of only stamping paper.
Eurostar at St Pancras runs juxtaposed French/EU controls. The UK ETA is already required for many short-stay visitors flying or sailing to Britain. Ireland itself is outside EES, so the Irish Sea change is a UK operator/Border Force rule, not the EU system.
September 3, 2026 6 1
