NO2ID

I am flying to Dublin next month for a long weekend and was curious about the legal status of the airline's ID requirements. They can't be statutory as there is quite a lot of variation between them. For example, Ryan Air -typically to be awkward - accepts only a passport, not even a driving licence. Whereas Aer Lingus and BMI accept a range of documents, including a company photocard, which is what I will take. Irish immigration requires no passport though theoretically requires proof that you fall into a category of persons that do not need a passport to enter (that is: EU national), which would be a passport! D'oh. I certainly won't take a passport with me as the chances of being stopped or an immigration official not believing me to be British is remote!

Does anyone know if there is law that compels the airlines to demand ID?

Last time I flew from Stansted to Dublin I tried using my photocard driving licence rather than passport, just to see what happened. All went well until Irish immigration, who certanly *did* ask to see documentation, and did check it. I was born outside the UK, and I always wondered why birth-place is printed on the driving licence. I now know - it's so that Irish immigration can use it as a proxy for nationality. Because I was born outside the UK, the immigration officer wouldn't let me in until I showed him my passport (which of course I was carrying, just to be sure).

Well thank you that useful information, Andrew. I would never have thought it. I used to travel to Dublin quite a bit in the 1980s and early 1990s but haven't been there since 1993. How things have changed. For the worse. I am actually an Irish citizen, by virtue of my mother being Irish, though I've never troubled to get an Irish passport. It was going to be my ace in the hole if ID Cards had been brought in. In that case I shall bring my driving licence, since t will show that I was born in Britain.

I know a political campaigner who challenged the ID requirements for British Irish Travel by taking a train from Belfast to Dublin without carrying any form of ID. South of the land border the train was boarded by the Garda who went round asking for ID documents. The individual, who is white caucasian, simple declared that he was a 'Common Travel Area Resident' and, as such, did not require ID. The Garda moved on to the next passenger.

The UKBA say this about the Common Travel Area (CTA):

The UK and Ireland to improve the Common Travel Area
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/newsarticles/2011/december/70-uk-ireland


They cleverly do not define generally thus creating some confusion and the perceived impression that ID is required. Politically the CTA has recently been a luke warm potato as the UKBA has argued for tighter controls to stop illigal immigration. However, the scale of abuse due to the lack of formal border controls would appear to be very small:

Illegal Immigrants: Northern Ireland
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2012-01-10c.87909.h



The authorities like to create the impression that ID is required for British - Irish travel. In fact it is not.

This Home Office FOI response clarifies the situation as of 13 August 2009:

http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/are_passports_compulsory#incoming-39633


On that basis if you arrived at the Irish Border without a passport from within the Common Travel Area they could not refuse you entry.

I came back from Dublin on Monday. Interestingly I had to show no identification when I returned to the UK via Gatwick. I simply showed my boarding card, which showed that I had come from Ireland and I was waved through without showing any other document. As it should be. However at Dublin I was asked for ID and showed by driving licence. However next time I may simply say that I have come from the UK and therefore need no photo id as i am travelling within the Common Travel Area.

This is simply Dublin Airport being lazy, I think. They probably find it easier just to chuck all arriving passengers into the same terminal, which entails going through a passport control.

I believe there is only 1 domestic flight in Ireland (Kerry to Dublin). Does anyone know what happens to passengers from that flight arriving at Dublin?

The UK treats flights arriving from Ireland as domestic.

Note that only birth in the UK before 1983 makes you a British citizen (and thus a British birthplace on a driving licence probably indicates you are British). After 1983, you are only British when born in the UK if at least one of your parents is, or has ILR.

It's also possible for someone born in the UK before 1983 to renounce their citizenship, but this doesn't change their birthplace on their driving licence.

Airlines can accept whatever ID they choose for domestic flights. For international flights, they need to be sure that the traveller can enter the destination country, which is why a passport is required in the majority of cases.

BA accepts a BA frequent flyer card for UK domestic flights (including Jersey).