Required To carry an Irish passport When in Northern Ireland????

His kids are irish citizens since he was an irish citizen when they were born. So technically they do not need an ETA but how they would go about proving they are Irish citizens i have no idea.

Is there some database of every resident in the north that can be accessed at a roadside check?

I'm trying to figure out if this is just a pedantic answer to prove that in some circumstances the OP might be more convenienced by having proof of citizenship to hand, or you're saying that the authorities in the North, routinely enough to be concerned about it, stop residents and demand their papers and they are subject to detention if they're not carrying them.

I know the UK has taken steps in a more authoritarian direction but this seems unlikely.

As I understand it, he is a Swiss resident but not a Swiss citizen. It's quite difficult to acquire Swiss citizenship - I know a British/Irish couple who did so a few years back after 20+ years living there, and it's not a foregone conclusion, never miind a simple administrative process..

I never said anything about a routine stop.

But things come up. Particularly easy to generate attention on yourself if you're going around trying to make life difficult for yourself.

"Ah sure it'll be grand"'ing it when the OP can do nothing to prove they are anything but Swiss with invalid travel documents is a terrible, terrible idea.

Fair enough. I should have mentioned that.

Doesn't have a Swiss passport, just a Swiss ID card and a 20 year expired Irish passport.

He will probably get away with things if stopped. Not sure about the wife and kids, who don't have passports of any kind. They wouldn't be able to apply for an ETA either, without a Swiss passport.

I'm open to correction on this, but I think it eventually fell foul of the civil liberties crowd predictably going bananas, and all sorts of conspiracy theories about state supervision and monitoring.

I don't recall any issues of legality, EU or otherwise.

Absolutely nuts that we don't have one.

Hmm, I wonder if the daughter (who works for a travel agency herself) has a passport?

Probably not, by the sounds of it. Crazy stuff, if that's the case.

But this situation must apply to the thousands of people who cross the border every day without carrying any sort of citizenship documents? I've been in the north without any form of ID. Are they all trying to make life difficult for themselves? Are they at risk of detention?

I'm trying to understand what the situation is here, the question was specific to travelling around the North, presumably he's got to Dublin as he normally does and crosses the border without any fuss. Does the OP need to be arrested or suspected of committing some crime for the documents to be necessary? How is he any different to the thousands of 26 county residents who travel up north daily? In what situation will those documents be necessary?

Nothings stopping him from sending for documents from Switzerland in that situation either.

I self identify as a subject of the kingdom of Prussia, even got the pointy hat to prove it!

Incredible because it's not true and never happening!

I dont understand why the belabouring of the Swiss ID.

Switzerland is about as much in the EU as Norway is.

Perhaps OP is really a frontier worker ………… who lives in France and but works in Switzerland :)

If he heads up to N.I. there is a very remote but not impossible chance that he will be treated the same as the girlfriend of a friend. ( far eastern, landed Dublin for a couple of weeks visiting boyfriend, they go to N.I. for a bit of touring, Some N.I. official spots them and demands papers, he is OK but not she, detained and deported home ! )