Number of Certificates of Irishness issued plummeted last year

Not even endorsements by Barack Obama and Tom Cruise could prevent the number of Certificates of Irishness being issued last year from plummeting.

According to figures released by Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan, there were 391 Certificates of Irishness issued last year, a 66% drop on the 1,172 certs dealt out in 2013. Their peak was in 2012, when 1,317 were issued. The scheme began in 2011 when 149 certificates were issued.

The fall in the number of certs issued is in spite of Obama receiving his document from Taoiseach Enda Kenny during his St Patrick’s Day visit at the White House in March 2012. Cruise received his cert from former tánaiste Eamon Gilmore in Dublin in April 2013.

The State has made an investment in the scheme which is administered by Kerry firm Fexco. A spokeswoman for the Department of Foreign Affairs said the certs had cost it a total of about €3,800, mostly related to technical issues.

The total number of certs sold, taking into account the 283 promotional ones, is 2,746.

The unframed cert costs €45 and the framed cert costs €120.