{"id":361370,"date":"2025-08-21T06:19:12","date_gmt":"2025-08-21T06:19:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/361370\/"},"modified":"2025-08-21T06:19:12","modified_gmt":"2025-08-21T06:19:12","slug":"my-protestant-friends-joke-that-theyve-been-prioritised-because-of-brexit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/361370\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018My Protestant friends joke that they\u2019ve been prioritised because of Brexit\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Belfast<\/a> man says he is \u201cbaffled\u201d as to why he is still waiting on his new Irish passport<\/a> almost six years after first applying.<\/p>\n

Michael McGill has been waiting since 2019, has a second application process that has also been impeded, and even a battle with cancer – all while having no explanation as to why he is still ultimately without the travel document.<\/p>\n

Incredibly, the 65-year-old\u2019s 2019 application is still \u201cprocessing\u201d according to the passport tracking service, and as of an update at the start of this month, he is advised the estimated due date for receiving it was November 13, 2019.<\/p>\n

The current expected wait for a first-time applicant is eight weeks, or 20 working days if completed online.<\/p>\n

\"Tragic<\/a>\"GAA<\/a><\/p>\n

Mr McGill, from the Ligoniel area of north Belfast, had held a British passport, and with the Brexit<\/a> date of January 1 2020 on the horizon, he decided to apply for an Irish passport and retain the travel benefits of EU citizenship.<\/p>\n

\"\"A Belfast man’s application for an Irish passport has led to almost six years of frustration. <\/p>\n

His first application was received on September 19, 2019, and tracking data suggested he could expect the passport to be delivered within weeks.<\/p>\n

Since then he has faced years of uncertainty and frustrations, but no explanations.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn September 2019, I thought that with only a few years left on my British passport, I\u2019d go ahead and get an Irish one before Brexit, like a lot of people were doing at the time,\u201d he told the Irish News.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seemed like the smart thing to do, in terms of avoiding queues while travelling, and to be covered diplomatically.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was a record-breaking year for Irish passport applications, with almost one million issued in 2019.<\/p>\n

\"MichaelMichael McGill. PICTURE: COLM LENAGHAN <\/p>\n

The surge was put down to the UK\u2019s looming departure from the European Union<\/a> prompting an increase in applications from people born in the north – all automatically eligible – along with those in Great Britain<\/a> who are entitled to one through requirements including having an Irish parent.<\/p>\n

Mr McGill\u2019s estimated delivery date came and went, and he called to enquire in January 2020.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey told me I had failed a security question when I accidentally gave my foster mother\u2019s maiden name, instead of my birth mother\u2019s, but when I tried to explain this error, they wouldn\u2019t listen,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Following this, he contacted the office a few days later and was told his application was still \u201cbeing processed\u201d – a term he would repeatedly hear in the ensuing years, much to his frustration.<\/p>\n

After more calls, he says he was told in August 2021 that his application had been cancelled, and he would receive a refund – something he claims he is still waiting on.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter that, I just sort of gave up on it – I was always told someone would call me back, but they never did,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

However, in 2023 he decided to try again, and after posting a fresh application, was advised through the tracking service he would receive his passport that November.<\/p>\n

\u201cWeeks passed, and in December \u201923 when I rang to enquire, I was told on the phone that I had two applications being processed. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was shocked – I told them about what had happened, about cancelling the first, and told them I have no need for two Irish passports, I just want the one!\u201d<\/p>\n

In May of last year, with still no sign of any passport, nor any explanation as to the delays, Mr McGill\u2019s problem was put to the back of his mind as he faced a more pressing concern – a cancer diagnosis of lymphoma.<\/p>\n

Following months of treatment including chemotherapy, he decided to make a final effort to secure his passport.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis time I decided I\u2019d go down in person with my partner, after being advised in a call after I struggled to make an appointment online, where it seemed appointments could only be made over emergency passports,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo in July of this year I made the trip to Dublin, as I thought I\u2019m feeling a bit stronger now following the chemo. At the passport office I was seen within five minutes, so was hopeful this could finally be resolved.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the person who was dealing with me went off to check it out, and was gone around 15 minutes. When he came back, I couldn\u2019t believe what I was hearing when he told me both applications were still being processed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was exhausted, and so frustrated that the journey, which wasn\u2019t easy in my condition, was a total waste of time. <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t understand why no-one can explain what is happening after all these years – or why they don\u2019t see there\u2019s something not right when two applications are being processed at once. You would have thought that someone would have contacted me to ask what was going on with that.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s funny, because I\u2019m from a Catholic background, but have friends from a Protestant background who decided around the same time as me to get Irish passports.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve been travelling on theirs for years now, and they joke it\u2019s because they were prioritised over me, given our backgrounds.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the years since, Mr McGill renewed his British passport smoothly, and was recently told he was in remission for his lymphoma.<\/p>\n

\u201cI honestly wish I hadn\u2019t bothered with an Irish one in the first place after all this trouble. But they have nearly \u00a3200 of my money, so I\u2019d like some sort of resolution.”<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Dublin\u2019s Department of Foreign Affairs said its Passport Service \u201ccannot comment on individual applications\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll passport applications are subject to the provisions of the Passports Act 2008, as amended, which provides a legal basis for the various policies and practices that are applied by the Passport Service in the issuing of passports,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Belfast man says he is \u201cbaffled\u201d as to why he is still waiting on his new Irish…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":361371,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5226],"tags":[802,748,2000,299,5187,1699,4884,15458,42048,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-361370","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-brexit","8":"tag-brexit","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-eu","11":"tag-europe","12":"tag-european","13":"tag-european-union","14":"tag-great-britain","15":"tag-irish","16":"tag-passport","17":"tag-uk","18":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115065308173966157","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=361370"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361370\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/361371"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=361370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=361370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=361370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}