The Department of Foreign Affairs has confirmed it is to recall of thousands of Irish passports issued between 23 December 2025 and 6 January 2026.
Passports affected lack the letters IRL on the data page due to a technical issue with a software update. The passports do not fully comply with international travel standards and may cause problems at eGates and border control.
The Passport Service notified border authorities worldwide through the International Civil Aviation Organisation and Irish Border Management. Affected customers received emails and must return passports to Passport Return – Customer Care, Passport Service, 42-47 Lower Mount Street, Dublin 2 – D02 TN83 for reissue without reapplication.
The Department of Foreign Affairs shared “The Passport Service is aware of an issue affecting passports issued between 23 December 2025 and 6 January 2026. Due to a technical issue with a software update, passports issued between 23 December 2025 and 6 January 2026 inclusive are not fully compliant with international travel standards and there is a possibility that some passport holders may have an issue at eGates and border control when travelling.”
“The Passport Service sincerely regrets this issue and apologises to affected citizens for the inconvenience caused.”
Eoghan Corry editor of Travel Extra shared in a radio interview on Newstalk: “The DFA were left of the hook because there are so few applications at this time of the year, if it had been in July or August it would’ve been a complete disaster. The Irish passport is one of the most powerful unrusted in the world so very important we keep our reputation squeaky clean. There will be no backlog, so the people who have got the erroneous passports can have them replaced very quickly.
