Irish passports have outnumbered their British counterparts in Northern Ireland for the first time, figures show.
The shift was confirmed as Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein is expected to surge to victory in Thursday's local elections for the first time in Northern Ireland's 101-year history. A win for the party, whose aim is to reunite the island of Ireland, would throw the delicate power-sharing agreement with pro-British unionists into doubt.
At least 48,911 Irish passports were issued in 2020, while 48,555 people in Northern Ireland applied for British passports.
Northern Ireland’s 1.8 million inhabitants have the right to hold both British and Irish citizenship.
The statistics mark the first time more people in the region opted for an Irish passport over a British one.
The true number of Irish passports issued for the region is likely to be much higher as official figures are only available for those issued through Northern Ireland Passport Express (NIPX), and do not include citizens who apply directly from Dublin. The NIPX service is available from post offices.
The figures, obtained through a Freedom of Information request submitted by The Irish Times, showed last year saw a return to a majority of British passports in the region.
But the figures for 2020 are part of a growing trend in recent years of more Northern Irish people opting for Irish passports.
After the 2016 Brexit referendum, the number of Irish passports being requested by people across the UK shot up as many people, including Britons with Irish ancestry, sought hassle-free travel to the EU.
Fifty-two per cent of people in the UK voted to break ties with Brussels in the referendum, while 56 per cent of people living in Northern Ireland voted to remain in the bloc.
Opinion polls suggest this week's local elections could bring about a historic victory for Sinn Fein, which would entitle the party to nominate a first minister.
It would be the first time an Irish nationalist party has won the biggest share of the vote since Northern Ireland’s power-sharing assembly was born out of the 1998 Good Friday agreement, which largely ended decades of violence.
But a Sinn Fein victory could lead to the Democratic Unionist party (DUP) boycotting a power-sharing agreement at Stormont, rather than allowing it to happen.
In LucidTalk’s final poll for the Belfast Telegraph, Sinn Fein had 26 per cent support, compared with 20 per cent for the DUP. The gap was wider at just more than 8 percentage points in a University of Liverpool/The Irish News poll, with the DUP neck-and-neck with the centrist Alliance Party on 18.2 per cent.
Political leaders in Northern Ireland clashed in a TV debate on Tuesday ahead of the ballot.
Sinn Fein's vice president Michelle O’Neill said it would be “absolutely unfathomable” to tell the electorate that a new Executive would not be formed following the election.
She also said she still had not heard if unionist leaders will “accept the democratic outcome of the election”.
DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has not made clear whether he will nominate a deputy first minister to serve along with a Sinn Fein first minister in the joint office.
The resignation of former first minister Paul Givan in February left the Executive unable to fully function.
Ms O’Neill accused the DUP of “holding us all to ransom” with its position of refusing to go back into an Executive without action on the Northern Ireland Protocol. Unionists are against the clause in the UK-EU post-Brexit agreement, which aims to prevent a return to border checks between Northern Ireland and the Republic. The Protocol, they argue, effectively cuts them off from the rest of the UK because it stipulates that goods arriving in Northern Ireland must be subjected to checks at ports.
“While the rest of us want to put money in the people’s pockets and deal with the cost-of-living crisis, the DUP are telling people their identity is under threat,” Ms O’Neill said.
Sir Jeffrey responded by pointing to the resignation of former deputy first minister Martin McGuinness, a Sinn Fein stalwart, which saw the Assembly collapse for three years.
If they win power, Sinn Fein have pledged to give people a say over whether they want to remain in the UK or become part of a reunited Ireland.
A border poll would likely spell disaster for the Conservative-led government as a vote to join Ireland would mean Boris Johnson’s legacy being tainted as the prime minister who oversaw the splintering of the union.
Speaking to Sky News on Wednesday, Britain’s Environment Secretary George Eustice declined to be drawn on potential scenarios.
“A lot of the people I think in the Northern Ireland election this time are not voting, for once, through the prism of either being nationalists or unionists,” he said.
He said the government “will deal with whatever we’re faced with” and stressed that “Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom”.
“Of course we believe in democratic elections but whether or not to have a referendum is always a matter for the UK government.”
Unresolved crisis
Russia and Ukraine have been locked in a bitter conflict since 2014, when Ukraine’s Kremlin-friendly president was ousted, Moscow annexed Crimea and then backed a separatist insurgency in the east.
Fighting between the Russia-backed rebels and Ukrainian forces has killed more than 14,000 people. In 2015, France and Germany helped broker a peace deal, known as the Minsk agreements, that ended large-scale hostilities but failed to bring a political settlement of the conflict.
The Kremlin has repeatedly accused Kiev of sabotaging the deal, and Ukrainian officials in recent weeks said that implementing it in full would hurt Ukraine.
Stan%20Lee
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NEW%20UTILITY%20POLICY%3A%20WHAT%20DOES%20IT%20REGULATE%3F
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ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies direct from Dubai to Rio de Janeiro from Dh7,000 return including taxes. Avianca fliles from Rio to Cusco via Lima from $399 (Dhxx) return including taxes.
The trip
From US$1,830 per deluxe cabin, twin share, for the one-night Spirit of the Water itinerary and US$4,630 per deluxe cabin for the Peruvian Highlands itinerary, inclusive of meals, and beverages. Surcharges apply for some excursions.
The specs: 2019 Mercedes-Benz GLE
Price, base / as tested Dh274,000 (estimate)
Engine 3.0-litre inline six-cylinder
Gearbox Nine-speed automatic
Power 245hp @ 4,200rpm
Torque 500Nm @ 1,600rpm
Fuel economy, combined 6.4L / 100km
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
LIVERPOOL SQUAD
Alisson Becker, Virgil van Dijk, Georginio Wijnaldum, James Milner, Naby Keita, Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah, Joe Gomez, Adrian, Jordan Henderson, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Adam Lallana, Andy Lonergan, Xherdan Shaqiri, Andy Robertson, Divock Origi, Curtis Jones, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Neco Williams
Who has been sanctioned?
Daniella Weiss and Nachala
Described as 'the grandmother of the settler movement', she has encouraged the expansion of settlements for decades. The 79 year old leads radical settler movement Nachala, whose aim is for Israel to annex Gaza and the occupied West Bank, where it helps settlers built outposts.
Harel Libi & Libi Construction and Infrastructure
Libi has been involved in threatening and perpetuating acts of aggression and violence against Palestinians. His firm has provided logistical and financial support for the establishment of illegal outposts.
Zohar Sabah
Runs a settler outpost named Zohar’s Farm and has previously faced charges of violence against Palestinians. He was indicted by Israel’s State Attorney’s Office in September for allegedly participating in a violent attack against Palestinians and activists in the West Bank village of Muarrajat.
Coco’s Farm and Neria’s Farm
These are illegal outposts in the West Bank, which are at the vanguard of the settler movement. According to the UK, they are associated with people who have been involved in enabling, inciting, promoting or providing support for activities that amount to “serious abuse”.
if you go
The flights
Air Astana flies direct from Dubai to Almaty from Dh2,440 per person return, and to Astana (via Almaty) from Dh2,930 return, both including taxes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Ritz-Carlton Almaty cost from Dh1,944 per night including taxes; and in Astana the new Ritz-Carlton Astana (www.marriott) costs from Dh1,325; alternatively, the new St Regis Astana costs from Dh1,458 per night including taxes.
When to visit
March-May and September-November
Visas
Citizens of many countries, including the UAE do not need a visa to enter Kazakhstan for up to 30 days. Contact the nearest Kazakhstan embassy or consulate.
HAJJAN
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Karwaan
Producer: Ronnie Screwvala
Director: Akarsh Khurana
Starring: Irrfan Khan, Dulquer Salmaan, Mithila Palkar
Rating: 4/5
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylturbo
Transmission: seven-speed DSG automatic
Power: 242bhp
Torque: 370Nm
Price: Dh136,814
India team for Sri Lanka series
Test squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Priyank Panchal, Mayank Agarwal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Shubhman Gill, Rishabh Pant (wk), KS Bharath (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Jayant Yadav, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Sourabh Kumar, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah.
T20 squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Surya Kumar Yadav, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Chahar, Deepak Hooda, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Avesh Khan
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
THE LIGHT
Director: Tom Tykwer
Starring: Tala Al Deen, Nicolette Krebitz, Lars Eidinger
Rating: 3/5
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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China
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UAE
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Japan
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Norway
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Canada
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Singapore
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Australia
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Saudi Arabia
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South Korea
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Diriyah%20project%20at%20a%20glance
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Tuesday's fixtures
Kyrgyzstan v Qatar, 5.45pm
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
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The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams