I am getting differing answers to this question. Hope someone can help -

To enter Ireland, does a passport have to be valid for 3 mos after return date or 6 mos?

Can anyone provide a site that shows this information?

1. The overwhelming majority of foreign visitors don't need a passport to travel to the Republic of Ireland. Britons need no documents (they need some kind of ID to get onto a plane or ferry, but not to cross the land border): other Western Europeans need only a National Identity Card.

2. For entry to Northern Ireland via the British mainland, there's NO minimum passport validity requirement. Non-Europeans need only to have a passport that's valid for thew duration of the planned visit

3. If it's the Republic you want to go to, and you need a passport to do so, you'll probably have found there's a whole industry out there of websites claiming to give authoritative information about this. Since they all contradict each other, we can safely assume the non-official sites are all just saying the first thing that comes into their heads (surprisingly common among websites that claim authority. Read the junk the Forors editors come out with in their editorials on this site for example. There's an amazing example of creative nonsense about how no-one in European cities ever wears shorts, and how you can't wear shorts in European churches that can only have been written by one of those Americans who's never acquired a passport).

Making completely spurious claims about minimum validity rules is one of these sites' favourite inventions: the web's full of such claims about requirements made by the UK and US governments, for example (neither of whom have minimum validity rules for most visitors)

The official Irish tourism site for North Americans (http://www.discoverireland.com/us/ir...and-Embassies/) makes no mention of minimum validities.

IN a way, though, the Irish government doesn't matter. What DOES matter is what it says on your airline's computer, since if it's got its information from one of the bullshit generating websites, you'll have trouble being allowed onto the plane. So ring them. By all means ring your local Irish embassy too.

The standard answer you get to this question on this board, BTW, is "renew your passport anyway". This answer is in fact a revenue-enhancing stunt by the US, Canadian and Australian passport authorities - all trying to get people with 5-year passports to renew them annually. In these hard times, with travel declining, they need the money.

so many words and so little answering of the question. crikey.

not sure what wearing shorts has to do with passports???

"The overwhelming majority of foreign visitors don't need a passport to travel to the Republic of Ireland."

Is this comment based on UK citizens not needing passports to enter the Republic of Ireland? US citizens certainly need one and while perhaps not the overwhelming majority of foreign visitors, certainly comprise a large chunk.

"This answer is in fact a revenue-enhancing stunt by the US, Canadian and Australian passport authorities - all trying to get people with 5-year passports to renew them annually."

This is bunk although admit it forces US renewals at the 4.5 year mark. I checked with my airline on a passport approaching 3-month expiry; they said no problem. You are right that the airlines are the control point.

Guess I slipped by one year. I neglected to look at the expiration date on my passport and it expired the day I was scheduled to return to the U.S. I didn't have any problems...just was praying nothing happened to delay my return! That was 15 years ago so things have changed since then.

I hate to cause controversy - but US passports are valid for 10 years - not 5. And I don't think anyone has a plot to cause people to madly rush around buying unnecessary passports. the rule if there usually just to make sure that unforseen circumstances don't mean you're staying so long that your passport expires while you're still there.