Record Number of Britons Worldwide Have Applied for Irish Passports

Britons living all around the world are applying for Irish passports to "safeguard their positions" after Brexit, the country's UK ambassador has revealed, reported The Independent. 

Daniel Mulhall said many of a record 500,000 applications in the first half of 2017 had come from British people who fear losing their rights to live and work in the EU after withdrawal.

That increase comes on the back of a 40% rise in the number of Britons seeking Irish passports in the second half of 2016, immediately after the EU referendum.

On the 500,000 applications from around the world, the outgoing ambassador said: "That's an extraordinary number of passports - well up on our previous numbers.

"People around the world, many of them maybe British people living in Europe, living elsewhere with Irish connections, are looking for Irish passports to safeguard their positions for the future."

The figures were revealed ahead of the Irish Taoiseach warning Brexit will affect "every single aspect of life in Northern Ireland", in his first speech north of the border.

In October, the Irish premier will, as part of the EU Council, discuss whether sufficient progress has been made in the Brexit negotiations for them to move onto future trade.