Freedom and a bit of home in your pocket

AS THE clocks prepare to spring forward and the first whispers of summer holiday planning begin homes across Scotland, a new shadow is looming over the departure lounge as the ‘post-Brexit’ grace period is officially entering a more bureaucratic phase, with several major changes taking effect this year which are here to stay.

The European Union is set to roll out its long-awaited ETIAS (European Travel Information and Authorisation System). While it isn’t quite a ‘visa’ in the traditional sense, it represents a significant shift for British passport holders and a compelling reason for those with Irish roots to finally dig out their grandparents’ birth certificates.

Starting from the end of this summer, UK citizens travelling to the Schengen Area—which includes holiday destinations like Spain, Italy, France, and Greece—will no longer be able to simply ‘turn up’ with their passport. Instead, you will be required to apply for an ETIAS permit before you even head to the airport.

The process involves an online application and a mandatory fee. For most adults, this will cost €20 (roughly £17). While the permit is valid for three years—or until your passport expires—it is an extra layer of digital red tape that many feel is an unwelcome reminder of being an EU outsider. If you’ve travelled to the USA in the past 18 years, think of ETIAS like an ESTA but for travelling to the EU.

Closer to home, the rules for moving between Scotland and Ireland have tightened. For years, many travellers relied on the Common Travel Area’s informal nature, often flying between Scotland and Ireland using only a UK driving licence as ID. However, that door has now firmly shut. As of late February 2026, Aer Lingus has officially ended its acceptance of driving licences for flights between the UK and Ireland. They have joined Ryanair in requiring a full passport or an Irish Passport Card for all passengers. If you turn up at Glasgow or Edinburgh Airport with only your driving licence for a Dublin flight, you will be turned away at the gate.

Furthermore, the EU’s Entry/Exit System (EES) has increased in scope this March. This system records biometric data—fingerprints and facial scans—for non-EU travellers entering the Schengen Zone. While Ireland is not part of Schengen, the shift towards ‘digital borders’ means that the days of flexible, document-light travel are effectively over for UK-only passport holders visiting the EU.

For thousands in the Irish community across the country though, there is a ‘golden ticket’ that bypasses these hurdles entirely—the Irish passport.

As an Irish citizen, you remain an EU citizen. This means you are exempt from the ETIAS fee, the pre-travel registration, and the biometric EES queues. More importantly, it grants you the right to use the ‘EU/EEA’ lanes at airports, avoiding the infamously long queues that have plagued UK holidaymakers since 2021. Beyond travel, it secures your right to live, work, and study anywhere in the 27 EU member states.

The good news is that Irish citizenship is famously generous to the diaspora. Even if you were born in Scotland, you are likely eligible for an Irish passport if you meet one of the following criteria:

—The Parent Rule: If one of your parents was born anywhere on the island of Ireland, you are an Irish citizen from birth. You don’t need to ‘apply’ for citizenship—you already have it, you simply apply for the passport itself.

—The Grandparent Rule: If a grandparent was born on the island of Ireland, but your parents were not, you are eligible to become an Irish citizen through Foreign Birth Registration (FBR).

Having multiple passports can be a costly business, but with the new ETIAS rules coming in to force, the fee which would otherwise have to be spent on obtaining an ETIAS permit goes some of the way to paying for an Irish Passport. At the time of print a standard Irish Passport is €75 for an adult (and as little as €20 for a child).

Costs do increase significantly when exploring the ‘Grandparent Rule’ of Foreign Birth Registration—with an adult application coming in at €278 and a child application €153—on top of this, once you receive your FBR certificate, you still need to purchase the passport on top!

While the FBR cost might seem steep, it is a one-time payment that secures Irish citizenship for life—and potentially for your own children, provided you are on the register before they are born.

With the ETIAS system fast approaching and the recent ‘hard border’ changes at airline check-in desks, the Irish Passport Office is bracing for a busy year.

If you’ve been sitting on the fence about claiming your heritage, there has never been a more practical time to do so. After all, why pay €20 for a temporary permit when you could have the freedom of the continent—and a bit of home in your pocket?

Paddy Callaghan is the Operations Manager of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann in Britain. You can follow him on Twitter: @paddy_box and Instagram: paddy_box and contact him via e-mail at: paddy@comhaltas.co.uk