30/09/2013

Irish Landmarks Feature On New Passport Design

Iconic Irish landmarks and images depicting music, dance and Gaelic games are to feature on the newly-redesigned Irish passport.

Croagh Patrick, Kylemore Abbey and Croke Park are among the landmarks featured on the new design launched today by the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Eamon Gilmore.

Unveiling the new design in Dublin, the Tánaiste said: "We have combined the latest security technology with selected imagery in order to produce a passport which represents Ireland – our culture, our history, and our people.

"The images used range from a stunning perspective of the Cliffs of Moher to the new landscape along the river Liffey, with the Dublin Convention Centre to the foreground and the Custom House and Liberty Hall peering through the harp strings of the Samuel Beckett Bridge.

"Images of Croagh Patrick and the Rock of Cashel feature alongside drawings depicting Irish music and dance and Gaelic games. The passport features poems from three of this island's finest poets: Nuala ní Dhomhnaill, William Butler Yeats, and James Orr."

A combination of photographs and drawings, commissioned solely for use on the Irish passport, are reproduced with specialist printing techniques to ensure the passports are secure.

The book was designed and produced in Ireland, by a consortium led by DLRS of Bray, HID Ireland of Baile na hAbhainn, and the Central Bank on foot of a competitive tender process.

All Irish passports issued from 3 October 2013 will have this new design.

(MH/JP)

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