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The Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Eamon Gilmore, T.D., today congratulated the Irish security printing company DLRS on winning a major international award for the new Irish passport design.

The passport book was designed and produced in Ireland by a consortium led by DLRS of Bray, HID Ireland of Baile na hAbhainn, Absolute Graphics of Bray, and the Central Bank on foot of a competitive tender process.

The Tánaiste said: “I would like to congratulate the companies involved in winning this international award. They combined innovative use of modern security measures with images of Irish culture and landscapes in a book that has been well received by Irish citizens around the world. Today the international security printing industry also recognises this achievement.

“I am particularly pleased that the work was undertaken by a group of young energetic Irish designers with a passion to deliver a world class product. This award proves Irish companies are competing against the best and winning on the global stage.”

The award, the Regional ID Document of the Year 2014 was presented at the High Security Printing Conference in Milan, and recognises outstanding achievement in the design and printing of identity documents in Europe. In presenting the award the conference organisers recognised the pioneering use of many new high security printing technologies and techniques by the Irish consortium led by DLRS.

ENDS

Note to Editors:

The new passport design was launched on 30 September 2013, and over 145,000 of the new passport booklets have been issued. More details can be found here: https://www.dfa.ie/news-and-media/press-releases/press-release-archive/2013/september/newly-designed-irish-passport

The Passport Service issued a total of 631,186 passports in 2013

A guide to How to Apply for a Passport, which takes Irish citizens through each step of their passport application and answers the most frequently asked questions, is available at www.dfa.ie.

On our website, you can also access a Passport reminder service and a Passport Tracking service to allow customers to track the status of their application.