Ireland - UK, Passport Required?

[SXB]

Heidelberg
PV is spot on, a new DL will conform to the Euro model. I'm still carrying one of the old green licenses, on the few occasions I've had to produce it the French authorities have looked at it with some suspicion. Because of my status I can't swap it for a French one and I can't have a new UK version because I no longer have a UK address.

Frankly I am all for a European wide ID which would be accepted as valid ID for travel within all EU countries.

This already almost exists, if you have a national ID card then you can travel to almost every country in the EU and a whole host of others. Even those countries which do not have national ID cards, like the UK (don't know if Ireland has ID cards), accept cards for border entry rather than passports. Within Schengen most border controls have gone but we are still obliged to carry our national ID cards and here in Strasbourg you often see the Police randomly stopping vehicles at the border with Germany. They get around the regulations by saying it's just a regular document check and it's coincidental that it's taking place at a border crossing (in most european countries the Police can randomly stop vehicles and/or persons to conduct a document check though not in the UK though of course)

[heidelberg]

national id cards

The UK and ROI do NOT have National ID cards - more's the pity.
Of course some would see it as an invasion on their privacy/human rights!

Do those people within the Schengen countries feel it is an invasion on their privacy/human rights? I doubt it.

I wish the Uk and Irish governments would introduce National ID cards.
This would resolve for all EU citizens the necessity of carrying a Passport EU for flights to/from UK/IRL and the rest of the EU.

[SXB]

I wish the Uk and Irish governments would introduce National ID cards

Agreed. The problem isn't the ID cards themselves but the rules under which you would have to produce such a card, such as if a police officer stops you in the street and simply asks to see your card, should he have to suspect you've broken the law to have the right to see your card ? I still have that UK mentality of not carrying all my documentation on my person. I have a car with diplomatic number plates and I was stopped by the police about two weeks ago for a minor traffic offence (it's a myth that such number plates allow you to ignore traffic regulations) and I was asked to produce my driving license, insurance certificate and appropriate ID for driving a diplomatic vehicle and I was unable to produce any of them. I received a penalty and had to produce said docs in 24 hrs, if I hadn't been able to recite the number plate of the car from memory I suspect I would have been in serious trouble.

Some people object to ID cards on the grounds of data protection though you can rest assured that the govt. already has all your details (passport agency, DVLA,DVLC, National Insurance, Inland Revenue etc etc) and I'm sure it's shared via different agencies.

On the continent you have a legal responsibility to carry an ID card and if you're driving a car you have to carry a whole load of other documentation whereas in the UK you don't have to carry anything, even when driving. Changing peoples habits is going to be very difficult....