Ireland-Britain travel will need passport

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The Government has initiated a plan that would require people travelling between the Republic and Britain to carry a passport, it is reported.

The plan relates to the ending of the Common Travel Area between Ireland and Britain, which has existed since the foundation of the State.

According to reports in today's Irish Times, senior Government officials have been asked to start work on a plan to deal with the ending of the Common Travel Area between Ireland and Britain

Britain instead intends to put an electronic border control system in place by 2009.

This means that anyone travelling between Ireland and Britain will need to carry a passport so that information about their movements will be available to authorities.

The system is being put in place to track terrorist suspects, criminals and illegal immigrants.

It is reported that the Government is planning to established a similar system for Irish border control.

The system is designed to collect information about a passenger in advance of travel to and from the country so that authorities can be alerted if someone on a watchlist is on the move.

It is not expected that Britain will try to implement the new system at the border between the Republic and Northern Ireland, as it would be too difficult to police.