Post Office in NI reports 'unusually high number of people' seeking Irish passports

The Post Office in Northern Ireland said it had an "unusually high" number of requests for Irish passport applications on Friday following the UK's vote to leave the EU

The Post Office in Northern Ireland has said it has had an "unusually high number of people in Northern Ireland seeking Irish passport applications".

It follows the UK vote to leave the European Union.

The Irish Department of Foreign Affairs has also said there has been "an increase in queries in respect of entitlements to Irish passports".

Earlier, Google said there had been a dramatic spike in searches for Irish passport applications.

The overwhelming majority of the searches came from Northern Ireland.

In a statement, the Post Office in Northern Ireland said: "We have seen an unusually high number of people in Northern Ireland seeking Irish passport applications, though we do not have exact numbers or a breakdown by branch."

The Irish Department of Foreign Affairs also said there had been 'an increase in queries in respect of entitlements to Irish passports'

The Irish Department of Foreign Affairs said: "The entitlements to Irish citizenship/passports including for those born on the island of Ireland and those claiming citizenship through parents or grandparents born in Ireland is unchanged as a result of the referendum."

It said that there had been "an increase in queries in respect of entitlements to Irish passports" on Friday.

However, it added that "reports of queues outside passport offices are incorrect and the passport offices in Dublin and Cork are operating as normal".

"The Passport Service will closely monitor the situation with respect to the impact on applications and the deployment of Passport Service staff," it said.

"Figures for applications in June will be released at the end of the month."