I just happened to be in the St James’ area of London at the annual Art Walk, when the banging started. The music got louder and the people started coming.
An estimated 750000 people took to the streets of London, asking for a People’s Vote, a chance to have a second referendum on Brexit.
To be honest, I think the whole Brexit thing is a huge pile of nonsense. People were lied to about what would actually happen after the United Kingdom left the EU. Scaremongering became rife and misinformation about immigration and refugees has led to xenophobia and racism raising its head.
Of 46.5 million registered voters, 33.5 million votes were cast. It seems like 13 million selfishly couldn’t be arsed to turn out to vote for something that will affect their children and grandchildren as well as themselves.
Anyway, here’s a few photos I took. I’ve never tried taking photos in a situation like this before and learned a lot. What’s your favourite?
Are you an inny or an outy?LOL Last of the Croissants Some of the 750000 who took to London’s streets B*ll*cks to Brexit He bangs the drum Says it all really, doesn’t it? Missing EU
I’m Irish, I live outside Ireland, I need a passport – Help!
If you’ve been living outside Ireland for a while, chances are that you will have to renew your Irish passport. In the UK, we’re lucky, if you don’t have a valid passport, you can still get back home. You can check my previous post on what documents are needed Travelling between the UK and Ireland.
If you’re travelling anywhere else other than Ireland, you will need a passport. If you’re living anywhere else in the world you will need a passport. So how do you get one?
Renew your Irish Passport Online
If you need to renew your Irish passport, you can do that online now at the Department of Foreign Affairs website. To be honest, this is the easiest way to renew your passport.
In 2017, the Department of Foreign Affairs introduced online renewals and made everything easy peasy.
You can use a photo taken with your front facing camera on your phone. Get a friend to take it. just make sure that the room is well-lit, you have a light coloured background with no patterns. Take the photo from your chest area up, make sure your shoulders are included. Once the photo is accepted by the system, it will crop it to the correct size for your passport.
If you’re in the UK, you can also use a Irish passport enable ‘Photo Me’ photo booth, make sure you choose the Irish Passport option. You can then use the code you are given online for your application.
They’ve even made a nice little video for you to explain it all.
You can now renew your child’s passport online. You still need to supply consent from both guardians. You will need to print off the form including the consent form, get them signed by your witness and send them to the Passport Office Online section for verification. The process normally takes about ten working days but the ten working days start from when the required documentation is received in their office.
You can also get your child a passport card when you renew online.
Getting a Passport Card
A passport card is really hand to have. You can use it to travel anywhere in the EU. You can apply online for it, the same as the process for renewing your passport. When you are renewing your Passport Book, you can also apply for a Passport Card. It costs a little bit less doing it that way. You can also apply for a passport card if you have previously renewed your Passport Book and didn’t get the Passport Card option.
There are a couple of things to remember here:
You must have a valid Passport Book to get a Passport Card
A Passport Card is valid for a maximum of five years.
If you have less than five years validity on your Passport Book, your Passport Book and Card will have the same expiry date.
Getting a First Irish Passport
You’re automatically an Irish citizen if you or your parent were born on the island of Ireland. Since 2005, any child born in Ireland, must have a parent legally allowed to reside there, to be entitled to citizenship and therefore an Irish passport.
The whole Brexit thing has meant that in the UK, lots of people, entitled to have a passport have finally got round to filling in the form after many years.
There are two ways to apply for your First Irish Passport
You can now apply for your first time passport online.
Or you can apply using a Paper Application Form
Don’t get your family to send you a form from Ireland. Outside Ireland, you have to use an APS2E form. In Ireland, you use an APS1E form.
The main difference is a Garda or PSNI officer signs a passport form in Ireland. Outside Ireland there are a number of other professions who can witness your application.
Where do I get an APS2E Irish Passport Application Form?
Wherever you are in the world, you can contact your local Embassy or Consulate. The Department of Foreign Affairs have a handy page with all the embassies here on their website.
The Irish Passport Office for Great Britain is located at:
114a Cromwell Road
London
SW7 4ES
In Great Britain, you’ll get APS2E forms in most Irish centres also.
Renewing your Irish Passport in person in London
If you have a completed an APS2E form and have travel plans you can go the Irish Passport Office in London with proof of travel, your old passport and 4 witnessed photographs. There’s never any guarantee but if you need a passport in a hurry, that’s your best bet.
Lost Passport
Remember, if you’ve lost your passport, you will need:
Proof of name
Proof of address
Valid photo ID
It’s always a good idea to bring a few extra proofs and your birth certificate and a copy of your previous passport if you have it. If your passport is a non biometric passport, you will be required to produce all first time documents.
The nice people who work at the Passport Office have the right to ask you for as much information as they require to ensure that you are who you say you are.
Residents of Great Britain have a little bit of an advantage over those living further afield.
You can apply for a faster turnaround through Passport Express in two post offices in Liverpool and Glasgow.
Glasgow
Glasgow Post Office,
140 West Nile Street,
Glasgow,
G1 2RD
Liverpool
Liverpool Post Office,
1 – 3 South John Street,
Liverpool,
L1 8BN
Turnaround on these is normally 3-4 weeks, once all the documents received are ok. You can apply for a First Time Application or for a Passport Renewal through Passport Express.
Getting a First Time Adult Passport
If you are living abroad, are an adult and applying for the first time you will need:
4 passport photos, two signed by your witness
Your Irish born parent’s Birth certificate
Your Irish born parent’s marriage certificate (normally if claiming through your mother, you need to show her name change)
Your birth certificate
Your marriage certificate (if you have had a name change)
Certified Photo ID / Certified copy of your other Passport (This is better as your name needs to be exactly the same on all passports you possess)
Proof of name
Proof of address
Most first time adult passport applications take somewhere in the region of 4-6 weeks to process. That’s not bad considering you’ve had your whole life to do it and are only getting round to it now!!
Getting your Baby a First Time Passport
If you are getting your baby their first passport, you or the child’s other biological parent must have been born on the island of Ireland.
You will need:
4 passport photos, two signed by your witness
The birth certificate of the Irish born parent
The birth certificate of the child
The marriage certificate of the parents, if they are married, if not, well, it doesn’t exist – don’t worry
When you fill in the application form, you must fill in both sides of Section 7.
This is where the Father and Mother give consent that the child can have a passport.
You must get this witnessed by a person who is on the list on professionals allowed to witness the form. This list is contained in the wraparound information sheet that comes with the APS2E form.
Again, both sides of section 7 need to be signed and witnessed. This is to show both parents give consent.
You don’t have to get two different people to sign each side. You can do it together, the witness must sign to say both of you were there.
The same witness can also sign section 9 of the form.
You will need to check with your local embassy or consulate. If you have travel plans contact them before you post off an application. No one wants to leave your baby at home while you go off on holiday. If you go to the office, they can help you. If an application you post off, goes missing or there is a problem, then you’re a bit screwed.
I’ll say it again, go to your local Irish embassy or consulate!!!!!
There are some different scenarios with children regarding custody/consent/if a father is not named on a birth certificate. I am not a solicitor. It is up to you to ensure you have the correct information for your own personal situation.
Foreign Birth Registration
If you want to get an Irish passport through an Irish born grandparent, you’re not automatically an Irish citizen. You need to claim citizenship through a process called Foreign Birth registration.
The Foreign Birth Registration process can take approximately six months, so don’t be in a mad hurry for it. You can find out more about the process here. Once you get citizenship, you can then apply for your Irish passport.
With your Irish Passport Application you would need to include:
4 passport photos, two signed by your witness
Your Birth Certificate,
Your Foreign Birth Certificate
Certified Photo ID / Certified copy of your other Passport (This is better as your name needs to be exactly the same on all passports you possess)
Proof of name
Proof of address
Phew!
There’s a lot of information in here. I hope it helps in some way. If you have questions, please comment below and I will try to help if I can.
All information is correct as of Dec 9 2019. nessymon.com takes no responsibility for changes or incidents due to changes. Please always contact your local Irish Embassy or Consulate / travel provider for the most up to date information.
The London Ear on RTÉ 2XM // Show 163 with Ambassador Dan Mulhall
I was delighted to able to chat to Irish Ambassador to Great Britain, Dan Mulhall, on this week’s show. He is now leaving his post in London to become Ireland’s Ambassador to the United States.Before that though, he sat down with me to chat about Irish Culture, Identity, and the dreaded B word.
Our chat was recorded on August 3 2017 in the Irish Embassy in London. Thanks to Brendan and Bernadette for their help in organising this.
The London Ear on RTÉ 2XM // Show 163
In-between chatting with Ambassador Mulhall, he picked the following tracks to play:
1. Planxty: Raggle Taggle Gypsy/Tabhair Dom Do Lamh
2. Bob Dylan: Shelter from the Storm
3. Clannad: Na Buachaillí Álainn
4. Steely Dan: Aja
5. London Philharmonic Orchestra & David Parry perform Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s The Magic Flute, K. 620: Overture
Listen On Demand to The London Ear
Thanks for listening, The London Ear broadcast on DAB radio, Saorview and outside Ireland you can listen online.You can listen to the show again on the RTE player. The show is broadcast every Saturday at 1300.
Don’t forget to check out the RTE 2XM website. You can keep up with me here.
You can keep up to date with all the music I play on The London Ear in one handy Spotify playlist. Every track I’ve played in 2017 and that is available on Spotify is in there. You can find it right here.
I also appeared on Talk Radio, speaking about coming out, later in the year spoke to Paul Ross about Black Friday, online shopping and small businesses.
I was also interviewed for Conor Scully’s Projections, speaking about life as a member of the Irish Diaspora, living in London.
June 24th – A Day I won’t forget
But June 24th happened. For those who have been hiding from all things news in 2016, fair play, how did you do it?
Going to bed on June 23rd, it looked like the British public were being a sensible lot and voting remain. I headed to bed, waking up at 6am to the news that a ‘Leave’ vote had won.
I was just kinda dumbstruck to be honest and couldn’t believe the short sightedness of some people, who were actually believing Farage and Co. Not for the first time that day, I felt a hole in the pit of my stomach.
I went to work and people were sitting around chatting, some just sitting, with no words. Some people were so emotional about it all that tears were shed.
I voted Remain but couldn’t partake in the conversations. I had a more pressing issue. I had a meeting which was to decide whether I would be made redundant or not. It went, as these things do, lasting about 3 hours. By 1645, I had a letter in my hand to say I was out of a job.
And so began my first adventures with the social welfare and benefits people in the UK.
August was tough, I managed to get some temp work through an agency for a couple of weeks in September and got a 12 week contract starting October 4th.
I’m not going to lie, the stress was just horrible and in London, if you’re not working, any savings at all are gone pretty quickly. Benefits come in at a whopping £73.50 per week. If you’re lucky, you might get some housing benefit too.
But Brexit and the June 24th announcement has impacted on my daily life in a way I never would have thought it could. My temp job exists because of Brexit, I have had my contract extended for another 12 weeks because of Brexit. What I do is existing because of Brexit.
Having a temp job now is great, better than £73.50 a week but no where as much as I was earning. This itself is another issue in London. Do you just want to exist somewhere or do you actually want to live?
June 24th and its fall out have made myself and Tahlula look at what the future holds. Being honest, I don’t want to exist. I want to live. That means 2017 could potentially be our last year in London. Something has to give.
Year of Flux and Celebrity deaths
Celebrity deaths in 2016, including my own beloved George Michael, have made us all question or own mortality.
2016 was a time of flux, a time of confusion. Now is a the time to kick the negatives of 2016 and start 2017 afresh.
Yes, getting a better job is top of the list but we all need to look after our own mental health, physical health and do stuff we enjoy and makes us happy.
During my time off this year, I lost nearly 3 stone. I want to continue that in 2017. I take medication for a dodgy immune system. I want to write more about that. 2017 is a year to throw myself into everything, try the ideas I have had see what sticks, what people like and what I enjoy doing.
The London Ear grows
I really enjoy presenting and producing my radio show, The London Ear on RTÉ 2XM. I’m thrilled at how the show has been received and how it has grown over the past few months. I don’t get paid for doing the show, so everything has to happen in the evening time, away from the 9-5 job. There’s no budget for promotion, all promotion is done via word of mouth and sharing on social media. So to see the show its listening audience and its social reach rise is very heartening and makes what I’m doing all worthwhile.
New beginnings, new starts, new adventures. 2017, it’s ours to to make the most of.
