LAST UPDATE | 26 Aug

ALL PASSENGERS TRAVELLING on ferries between Ireland and the UK will need to show their passport on departure from 28 September, it has been confirmed.

Previously, some ferry lines allowed passengers to use other forms of valid ID. Now a passport or passport card is strictly required.

The change comes at the behest of the UK Border Force to verify the “accuracy and integrity” of passenger data before boarding.

A spokesperson for Stena Line confirmed that from 28 September, people travelling between Holyhead and Dublin, or Fishguard and Rosslare, will now need to show their passport on departure.

Irish Ferries similarly said that passengers travelling on its two routes between Ireland the UK – Dublin and Holyhead, and Rosslare and Pembroke – will now require passports.

“This aligns ferry travel requirements with the document checks already carried out by many airlines,” it said.

This is required regardless of age or nationality.

“Customers with existing bookings are currently being notified by the customer service team to ensure customers are fully supported during this change of operations,” Stena Line said.

Under the Common Travel Agreement, Irish and British citizens do not require passport controls when travelling between the two countries.

Ferry operators say routes between Britain and Northern Ireland will not be affected by the changes.

Sinn Féin’s justice spokesman Matt Carthy said improved passenger information and data between the island of Ireland and Britain “makes sense”, but he said it should also include travel from Britain to Northern Ireland.

He said: “Tightening passenger verification requirement on some but not all ferry travel between Britain and Ireland makes little sense.

“Sinn Féin wants to see progress towards enhanced data sharing on travel within the Common Travel Area, improved passenger verification, and the development of all-island migration management policies that should include the development of measures such as an all-Ireland entry-exit scheme in the future.”

Additional reporting by PA