Young people warned 'don't use your passport as ID in holiday hotspots'
The holiday season is well and truly here, with thousands of us heading abroad in the next few weeks for sunshine and fun.
With the Leaving Certificate students also heading abroad after the exams at the end of this month, to popular spots like Majorca, Ibiza and the Greek Islands, young people are being warned NOT to use their passports as forms of identification on nights out.
Most nightclubs and pubs in holiday hotspots will look for some form of ID from students, especially the ones lucky enough to look younger than they are. Pic: Getty Images
But there are many reports of passports lost or stolen every year, and the Department of Foreign Affairs is advising young people to carry a different form of identification, such as a student card or driving licence, on nights out, instead of their passport.
'We advise all Irish citizens travelling abroad to be mindful of their surroundings at all times and take the necessary precautions for their personal safety and that of their belongings.'
What should you do IF your passport is lost or stolen abroad? Pic: Getty Images
Speaking on RTE Radio 1's Claire Byrne Show, the Director General of the Consular and Passport service, Fiona Penollar, said: 'I know that many people have it (their passport) in their back pocket. It's so easy to lose it and then it can just be challenging and not just to have the passport but whatever visa was in it, whatever it's connected to, just adds layers of complication that you don't need.'
But if it happens and you do lose your passport abroad?
You MUST contact the local police in whatever country you are in and immediately inform the Passport Service in Ireland. They will report the details to Interpol and the passport will be marked as no longer valid for travel. Pic: Getty Images
If you report a passport as lost or stolen, DO NOT attempt to travel on it.
If your passport is lost, stolen or damaged while you are overseas and you need a travel document to return home, your nearest Irish Embassy or Consulate may be able to help.
Stay safe and have fun, but leave the passport in the hotel safe when you go out.
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Pro Life Campaign Pro Life Campaign The Evidence The study referenced in the article called 'Termination of early pregnancy in Ireland: Review of the first four years of inpatient service at a tertiary maternity unit', which was published in the Irish Journal of Sociology on 28 May. The study analysed outcomes for 149 women who had abortions at a single, unnamed maternity hospital in the south of Ireland between 2019 and 2022. It is a broad study that looks at the experiences of the women, where they came from, whether they had been pregnant before, the length of time that they had been pregnant before seeking an abortion, whether they experienced any complications, and other aspects of their care. It is not a nationally representative survey, such as those carried out for opinion polls in newspapers or occasionally for advertising purposes, both of which involve carefully weighting responses by categories such as gender, age, or social class. The findings are instead based on the medical outcomes of a select group of women who attended one hospital over four years; those findings cannot be extrapolated to the wider population to represent the experience of all Irish women. The study is not even representative of all women who had an abortion during the years 2019 to 2022. It only looked at women who had what is called a medical abortion – a termination of pregnancy that is induced by taking medication – after they presented to a hospital to receive one (as opposed to doing so in a community setting). It did not include women who had a medical abortion after being prescribed medication by a GP in a community setting, which is permitted when pregnancies are under nine weeks. This is crucial, because the study says that 90% of terminations in Ireland are community-based, which is relatively unique by international standards. Hospital-based terminations of pregnancy – such as those analysed in the study – make up just 10% of abortions in Ireland. Furthermore, the study excluded those who first presented to the hospital for surgical abortions, which involve the use of instruments and women going under anaesthetic. It is therefore completely false to suggest that one-in-eight women who had an abortion in Ireland since the procedure was legalised had to go to an emergency department afterwards. So where did the figure come from? Advertisement The Journal contacted the Pro Life Campaign, who referred us to a sample size outlined under 'Table 4′ of the study, which deals with 'complications' that resulted from some abortions. The section on 'complications' describes how some of the women involved in the study required blood transfusions and extended hospital stays after receiving an abortion, while there were also a small number of admissions to high-dependency units. The group of women who were recorded as suffering 'complications' was 34 – the majority of the 149 women did not. Those 34 women – or 23% of the women in the study – were counted because they sought a medical review after they were discharged from the hospital. Of those 34 women, 18 involved unplanned presentations by individuals to the emergency department (the other 16 attended for scheduled clinic appointments). That is the figure referred to in the claim by the Pro Life Campaign: 18 out of 149 women – equivalent to roughly one in eight, or 12% – made an unplanned presentation to an emergency department after terminating their pregnancy. The study states that these presentations were 'primarily due to concerns regarding infection or heavy/irregular vaginal bleeding'. In response to the query about its headline, a spokesperson for the Pro Life Campaign said the group was 'not referring to the entire female population of Ireland, whether or not they had abortions'. (At the time of publication, the claim that one-in-eight women in Ireland visited an emergency department after having an abortion still featured in a headline and graphic on the group's website.) The group also called for more research and said it 'remains to be clarified' whether the findings would be replicated among the wider population. 'It is normal for research studies to obtain data from a specific sample of the population,' the spokesperson said. 'Most media reports, including those in The Journal , do not cover a statistical discussion of how representative they are of the wider population.' The group highlighted two articles by this publication by way of example, both of which involved nationally representative surveys carried out among the wider population, a contrast to the abortion study which involved a relatively small group of women at one hospital. The authors of the study concluded that there were 'low complication rates' among the women whose abortion procedures were analysed, something that is in keeping with international studies that show that early abortions (ie before 12 weeks) are safe. It should be noted that in any area of healthcare, complicated outcomes are – because of their nature – more likely to be seen in a hospital setting rather than by a GP in the community. Rather than suggesting that the complicated outcomes were a cause for concern about abortion services, the study concluded by suggesting there should be more open access to abortion in Ireland, and pointed to the negative impact of the mandatory three-day wait that women must undergo between being certified by a GP and having an abortion. The Verdict The Pro Life Campaign claimed that one out of every eight women in Ireland has visited an emergency department after an abortion. The group also said that '12% of the women who underwent abortions' between 2019 and 2022 made an unplanned visit to an emergency department afterwards. The figure is based on 18 (or 12%) of 149 women who had abortions at one hospital in the south of the country over a four-year period, whose experiences were analysed as part of a recently published study. It is not a nationally representative sample, and did not include those who specifically presented to the hospital for surgical abortions or the 90% of women whose terminations take place in a community setting. In responses to queries from The Journal , the group said it was not referring to the entire population of Ireland, and defended its wording about the study's overall findings about 'women in Ireland' as normal practice by the media. We therefore rate the claim that one-in-eight women who had abortions in Ireland over a four-year period as FALSE . As per our verdict guide , this means the claim is inaccurate. The Journal's FactCheck is a signatory to the International Fact-Checking Network's Code of Principles. You can read it here . For information on how FactCheck works, what the verdicts mean, and how you can take part, check out our Reader's Guide here . You can read about the team of editors and reporters who work on the factchecks here . Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... It is vital that we surface facts from noise. Articles like this one brings you clarity, transparency and balance so you can make well-informed decisions. We set up FactCheck in 2016 to proactively expose false or misleading information, but to continue to deliver on this mission we need your support. Over 5,000 readers like you support us. If you can, please consider setting up a monthly payment or making a once-off donation to keep news free to everyone. Learn More Support The Journal
