Brexit Caused Costs For The Irish Passport Office To Rise By A Huge €4.3 Million

Looks like the Brexit vote has had an even bigger impact on Ireland than we thought, especially when it comes to our good oul Passport Office.

As reported by The Journal, the cost of running the Passport Office shot up by almost €4.3 million last year after a huge increase in demand for Irish passports, mainly due to the Brexit vote.

An extra 32 staff were hired to deal with the surge in applications for Irish passports during 2016, and a several temporary clerical officers were also hired for particularly busy times in the office.

21,549 people applied for passports in just three months between July and September 2016 after the Brexit referendum on 23 June.

That's more than double the 10,959 applicants who applied for an Irish passport in the same time period in 2015 - an enormous rise.

This accounts for the €4.3 million rise of the Passport Office costs since last year, bringing the total running costs to €31,637,414 according to figures released by Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan.

Almost 65,000 people in Britain applied for an Irish passport last year, an increase of 42% compared to 2015.

We can only assume the demand for Irish passports will continue as Britain begins its departure from the EU...