Here’s where we rank when compared to the rest of the world.
In the current Brexit climate, the demand for an Irish passport has rarely been higher and the travel document is also extremely powerful, as reflected by the latest Henley and Partners Passport Index.
A passport for the Republic of Ireland is ranked in sixth place when it comes to passport power, having been consistently placed in the top 10 over the last decade.
The research also showed that passports for the US and UK are less powerful than they once were.
The Henley Passport Index is the original ranking of all the world’s passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa. The ranking is based on exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which maintains the world’s largest and most accurate database of travel information, and enhanced by ongoing research by the Henley and Partners Research Department.
The Irish passport is considered one of the most prized in the world because it offers visa-free travel to 183 countries around the globe.
In terms of the strongest passports, Japan and Singapore are on top as those respective travel documents allow their citizens to access 187 destinations without a prior visa.
South Korea, Finland, Germany (joint second), Italy, Luxembourg, Denmark (joint third), France, Sweden, Spain (joint fourth), and Austria, Netherlands, Portugal, Switzerland (joint fifth) complete the top five.
Afghanistan remains at the bottom of the list because its citizens are only able to access 25 destinations.
Brexit has seen the power of the UK passport diminish, they’re now joint sixth with the US, the Republic of Ireland Ireland, Belgium, Greece, Canada and Norway.
A full breakdown of the data can be found here.
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ with Aideen McQueen – Faith healers, Coolock craic and Gigging as Gaeilge
