The Irish wolfhound is to feature prominently in the new Irish passport design, which will be introduced next year.
The dog was selected from a choice of Irish animals that featured in a public consultation on which would appear in the new-look passports pages.
Participants named the Irish wolfhound, red squirrel, and red deer as the top three from a proposed list of fauna, and also chose the shamrock, gorse and bluebell as the main flora to represent the island of Ireland.
Welcoming the choice as the designs are being finalised, Tánaiste and the Republic’s foreign affairs minister, Micheál Martin, said the redesign is “fundamental to maintaining the integrity and reputation of the Irish passport worldwide”.
“The Irish wolfhound was the most popular animal chosen by the public in our recent public consultation, and will feature prominently in our new passport,” he said.
“We share this island with a rich variety of plant life and a diverse range of animals and I look forward to seeing future design concepts as they progress.”
The current passport design was revealed in 2013 and featured a map of the entire island of Ireland for the first time, along with verses in Ulster Scots by Co Antrim poet James Orr.
It was revealed in December that five of the top seven counties where first-time Irish adult passport applicants were resident in 2023 were in the north.
The Republic’s Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed more than 12,000 new applications were received from people in counties Antrim and Down alone.
