Irish authorities received advance notice from the UK that live facial recognition technology would scan thousands of Irish travellers arriving by ferry at Holyhead port in Wales. UK immigration enforcement officers conducted scans on passengers from Dublin last week.

The operation followed a trial in November 2025 at the same port, where officers scanned more than 7,500 faces over six days and made one arrest. That trial cost £50,000, according to UK policing minister Sarah Jones, covering police technical support and watch list production.

UK minister for justice Jim O’Callaghan confirmed to TD Paul Murphy that his officials knew of the proposed trial. O’Callaghan noted ongoing cooperation between Ireland and the UK on Common Travel Area operations but stated that UK immigration measures remain a UK matter.

In the November trial, the first three-day deployment scanned 2,038 faces with no matches. A second three-day deployment scanned 5,474 faces and generated two alerts, leading to one arrest. Holyhead was chosen after intelligence indicated people breaching deportation orders were returning via the port.

Data from the February 2026 operation has not been released. An investigation by Belfast-based The Detail uncovered the cost of the November trial. The technology targets individuals in the UK immigration enforcement division’s population of interest.