Whole island map on new passport

The new Irish passport includes verses in Ulster Scots as well as a map of the entire island for the first time.

Extracts from the Constitution stating the birthright of anyone born north or south of the border to be part of the Irish nation are also prominent.

However, Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore played down any significance in the inclusion of a map of the island.

“It’s a topographical map... it is not intended to be a map of the administrative or political arrangements,” he said.

Among the design features in the 34-page booklet are verses from three poets, Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, William Butler Yeats, and James Orr.

Orr, from Co Antrim and known as the Bard of Ballycarry, was one of the Ulster Weaver Poets in the 18th century, influenced by Robert Burns, and who wrote in Ulster Scots.

Other images include Grianán of Aileach, an ancient fort in Co Donegal linked to the Uí Neill high kings of Ulster, the Cliffs of Moher, the Samuel Beckett bridge on the River Liffey, Croagh Patrick in Co Mayo, the Aviva stadium, Dublin, Cork Opera House, and the Rock of Cashel. Drawings of Gaelic games, dance, fishing, and music also feature, along with the national anthem, written in music throughout the booklet.

“In relation to Northern Ireland, we have on page three a map of the full island, the extract of article two of the Constitution, which makes it clear that entitlement to an Irish passport is for anybody who was born on the island of Ireland,” Mr Gilmore said.