APPLICATIONS ARE NOW open for Irish 18-year-olds to apply for a free travel pass to explore the countries in the European Union. 

The DiscoverEU initiative allows members of the European Union who are 18 years old to apply for one of 20,000 travel passes for travel around the EU later this year. 

The aim of the scheme is to get young people interested in connecting with Europe.

Applications opened yesterday and will remain open until 16 May. Ireland has a quota of 189 passes. 

Successful applicants can travel with up to four of their friends on their pass. To use the pass, people must travel between 1 August this year and 31 January of next year. 

Anyone who travels is expected to be a “Discover EU Ambassador” and to “report back on your travel experiences through social media tools like Instagram, Facebook or Twitter using #DiscoverEU”.

This is the second round of the programme, which kicked off last year. 

You can find out more about the initiative here