Public urged to renew passports in off-peak season

People planning to travel in the coming months are being urged to renew their Passports in off-peak season.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Charlie Flanagan, is encouraging visitors to the Holiday World exhibition at the RDS in Dublin this weekend to visit the Passport Office stand.

At the stand people will be able to view samples of the new passport card which was launched last October – 14,000 cards have been issued to date.

While, over 670,000 passports were issued here last year, an increase of 11% since 2011.