Editorials

The Irish Times view on live facial recognition: careful consideration required

It is right to question whether the technology is necessary or proportionate

A close-up of a police facial recognition camera in use at the Cardiff City Stadium for the Cardiff City v Swansea City Championship match on January 12, 2020 in Cardiff, Wales. Police are using the technology to identify those who have been issued with football banning orders in an attempt to prevent disorder. Critics argue that the use of such technology is invasive and discriminatory. Photo: Matthew Horwood/Getty Images
A close-up of a police facial recognition camera in use at the Cardiff City Stadium for the Cardiff City v Swansea City Championship match on January 12, 2020 in Cardiff, Wales. Police are using the technology to identify those who have been issued with football banning orders in an attempt to prevent disorder. Critics argue that the use of such technology is invasive and discriminatory. Photo: Matthew Horwood/Getty Images
Mon Apr 13 2026 - 20:00 • 2 MIN READ

The trial by British immigration authorities of live facial recognition technology at Holyhead represents a significant step towards mass surveillance. The limited use of facial recognition for automated immigration control – the traveller is matched with a passport database – has been a feature of airports both here and abroad for over a decade .

What is different in this case is that the technology is being used to match travellers to unspecified “watchlists” in real time. In the case of the Holyhead trial the target was reported to be people who had been removed from the UK and were seeking to re-enter.

There is little that civil liberties campaigners here and in the UK can do about the trials and the clear direction of travel. The legality of the technology in the UK is well established and it has been used sporadically by British police forces since 2020.

But the results of the trial – which have been published – provide useful ammunition to challenge the introduction of live facial recognition here. The Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) (Amendment) Bill 2025 is making its way through the Dáil. It will allow the use of automated recognition technology and also live recognition technology. The background is the 2023 Dublin riots, when the Garda had to manually review hours of CCTV footage to identify offenders.

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The Irish Council for Civil Liberties and others have argued that the UK trial cast doubts over the efficiency and efficacy of the routine deployment of live facial recognition. Over 10,000 passengers at Holyhead were screened against a watchlist of up to 6,535 Individuals, generating two alerts.

There is a limit to the conclusion that can be drawn from the limited trial, but the ICCL is right to question whether the technology is necessary or proportionate. It is important that these issues are fully debated as the legislation progresses through the Oireachtas this year. The Minister for Justice must make his case that such a significant circumscription of civil liberties is truly in the public interest.