Finally, I have my Irish passport!
Here is a breakdown of the full process for anyone wondering, beginning with my initial steps to get myself onto the Irish Foreign Birth Register.
Foreign Birth Register (FBR)
Application sent via post from London, UK - 28th September 2019
FBR application accepted in Ireland - 3rd October 2019
Email from FBR staff confirming my current address - 4th January 2022
Congratulations email from FBR staff - 5th January 2022
FBR certificate received in the post - 28th January 2022
Passport and Passport card
Application completed online - 11th February 2022
Application sent via post from London, UK - 16th February 2022
Application signed for at Balbriggan Passport office - 21st February 2022
"Processing Application, we have received your supporting documents" - 24th February 2022. Projected date was 5th May 2022.
"Processing Application" - 14th April 2022
Printing Passport - 11th July 2022
Dispatched Passport - 12th July 2022
Printing Passport card - 12th July 2022
Dispatched Passport card - 14th July 2022
Received Passport in the post - 15th July 2022
Received Passport card in the post - 18th July 2022
Received all of my application supporting documents in the post - 21st July 2022
So, from the initial posting of my FBR application way back in 2019 to now, it has been 1027 days, or 2 years, 9 months, and 23 days. That doesn't include all the waiting around I did when I was waiting for birth certificates to be posted to me before my FBR application could be sent.
What documents did I send with my passport application?
Alongside my FBR certificate and birth certificate, I included a scan of my passport which was witnessed by a university lecturer, my actual driving license card and paper counterpart, a bank statement stamped by my bank, a credit card statement on official company paper, a student loans repayment invoice, a recent payslip stamped by my employer, and my work contract (I started a new job 2 months before I sent in my passport application and the contract had my address on it, so it was sufficiently recent).
I spoke to a Passport agent before I sent my application in, to ask if it was okay that I only sent in a scan of my passport which was witnessed. I needed it for travel and I didn't fancy sending both my passport and driving license originals. They confirmed it was fine, but I sent in a print off of that conversation with the agent as proof. I also provided a written document outlining which bits of my paperwork fulfilled which parts of their form, so it was clear to anyone what I had provided.
Very happy to have the Passport in hand. Good luck to you all!