National I.D. card?

slither12

Why does't Ireland and the UK have one? My German friend showed me his and it's pretty ideal. No need to travel with a passport. They also contain the photo and fingerprints.

We have the passport card but that's still doesn't compare.

L1011

Most English speaking countries don't have them; most other countries do. There's a sociology class in trying to figure that out.

Podge_irl

The passport card more or less does the job to be fair though it does not fulfil exactly the same function obviously (and requires a passport of course).

I have no ideological objection to them. But lots of things that are standard on the continent such as registering with the govt where you live are a complete no go in anglophone countries

Brussels Sprout

I think it stems from a worry that it is seen as government overreach and the romantic vision that people are free without them. Some people think of National ID cards as synonymous with police demanding to "see your papers" with the threat of carting you off to jail if you refuse.

In reality, in a society where you need a PPS number to get a job, a driving licence to drive a car, a passport to leave the country (in most cases) a photo I.D. to buy alcohol or get into licenced premises or (technically) to vote it's almost impossible to go through without having to get multiple IDs. That being said I can't see this changing any time soon.

Sam Russell

The Public Service Card was an attempt to introduce a national ID card by subterfuge or by the back door, or perhaps to make security better for some elements of interaction with the Gov.

I used to be against an ID card, but given the huge number of needs for proving one's ID, a single official ID card has enormous benefit for the user.

The question would be important as to whether non-citizens would be able to have one, or should they be restricted to passport holders.

Also, how much data should the ID carry. That is the rock this normally dies on.

standardg60

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120280707#Comment_120280707

That's a very good point, it's very possible that the various authoritarian regimes which controlled most of Europe in the last century conditioned the population to accept national ID as a norm. Facing detention and possible death without it you'd probably be happy enough with one.

Ubbquittious

There has already been a huge uptick in Orwellianism since covid. They can feck off with their national ID card