Irish Sea crossings – passports needed

Passengers travelling with Stena Line and Irish Ferries to travel between Britain and the Republic of Ireland must present a valid passport or Irish passport card before boarding.

This is to comply with Border Force rules concerning the "accuracy and integrity of passenger data before boarding".

Previously, passengers booking ferries may have been allowed to present other photo ID.

That’s now changed – and will affect British and Irish citizens.

It should be noted that this is a ferry operator requirement prompted by Border Force requirements, rather than a change to the Common Travel Area itself. The Government has confirmed there has been no change to the operation of the Common Travel Area.

We were given very short notice of the changes, and we have particular concerns about how this will affect coach operators. Potential passengers who don’t have that ID won’t be able to travel.

We raised this with Border Force and asked them to consider delaying the change to allow more people to apply for a passport or Irish passport card, but they’ve gone ahead as advised.