Irish passports are set to get a redesign with members of the public to be asked for their opinion on the new look.
While the gold Irish harp on the burgundy background will remain the same, suggestions are being sought on what aspects of Ireland’s diverse flora and fauna could appear on the new-look passports.
It is part of an initiative due to be launched by the Republic's Department of Foreign Affairs this week.
The changes will also include security updates and are part of the first passport changes in a decade.
The International Civil Aviation Authority recommends documents undergo frequent revamps to include new security features.
The new-look passports are expected to go into circulation by the end of 2025.
An online questionnaire is due to launched tomorrow, following Cabinet approval today, with images anchored in Ireland’s natural environment being considered for the pages.
Read More: First time Irish passport applications from Antrim, Down higher than any other county except Dublin
A government official said: “For this exercise, the department will seek the public’s input on choosing aspects of Ireland’s diverse flora and fauna to help shape the passport design.
"The public will be asked for input during the passport design phase through a short online questionnaire asking them to consider which Irish flora and fauna should be included in the design.”
Previous figures showed that applications for Irish passports from Northern Ireland have soared, with close to 50,000 people applying for the first time.
Just under 128,000 applications from the north, first time and renewals, were received in 2022, the majority online.
Overall, a record number of Irish passports were issued in one year, with 1,080,000 given out in 2022 out of the more than 1.15 million total applications received.
The number of first-time passport applications from Northern Ireland and Britain was 100,000.
