Getting in and visas for Ireland

Visa Requirements

• Citizens of EU and EEA countries, most of North and South America, Japan, Israel, Australia and New Zealand do not require a visa to visit Ireland.
• Citizens of other countries should check the visas lists at the Irish Dept. of Foreign Affairs. The visa application process for tourist visas is reasonably straightforward and is detailed on the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service website.
• Because of an informal agreement between the United Kingdom and Ireland, known as The Common Travel Area, there are no passport controls in effect for UK citizens travelling to Ireland. On arriving in Ireland from the UK, however, you may be asked for valid official photo-identification such as a passport or driving licence which shows your nationality. This is to prove you are an Irish or UK citizen who is entitled to avail of the Common Travel Area arrangements.

By plane

The Republic of Ireland is served by 4 international airports, Dublin (IATA: DUB), Shannon (IATA: SNN), Cork (IATA: ORK) and Ireland West, Knock (IATA: NOC). Dublin is connected to several cities in the US, Canada, the UK and continental Europe. Shannon, close to the cities of Limerick and Ennis, also has flights to the US, Canada, the UK and Europe. Cork has flights to most UK destinations and a wide variety of European cities. It is easily accessed from any of the major European hubs, including all of the London airports. Knock Airport has daily scheduled flights to several UK cities as well as to Boston and New York in USA, as well as various chartered flights to (mostly) holiday destinations in Europe. Smaller regional airports that operate domestic and UK services include Donegal (IATA: CFN), Galway (IATA: GWY), Kerry (IATA: KIR), Sligo (IATA: SXL) and Waterford (IATA: WAT). The City of Derry Airport, and both Belfast airports (both the City and International) are within a relatively short distance from the North/South border, especially the former. (These three airports being located within Northern Ireland). National carrier (and formerly state owned) Aer Lingus concentrates on providing cheap fares from central airports, with good service, and has cheap deals available from the UK, continental Europe, the USA and Dubai. It often compares favourably with Ryanair for flights booked close to the travel date. Ryanair is another source of flights to Ireland, particularly from the UK, however extras such as baggage charges, taxes and other charges can add a considerable amount to the total price. Comprehensive listings of airlines flying directly into Ireland, along with destinations and timetables, can be found on the Dublin, Shannon, Cork and Knock airport websites. A regional service is also provided by Aer Arann which provides domestic flights within Ireland and international flights mainly to and from the United Kingdom.

By train

The only cross-border train is the Enterprise service jointly run by Irish Rail and Northern Ireland Railways from Belfast Central to Dublin Connolly. A Rail-Sail Scheme is also available, linking Stena Line or Irish Ferries Ferry companies with Train Companies in Great Britain and Ireland. They mainly operate from UK cities across the various Irish and British Rail Network via the Dublin-Holyhead routes.

By bus

Cross border services are operated by Ulsterbus and Bus Éireann. Eurolines operate services to Great Britain and beyond in conjunction with Bus Eireann and National Express (Great Britain). Bus Éireann also operates frequent services to and from Eastern Europe, in particular Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

By boat

Ireland is served by numerous services to Great Britain and France:

• Swansea-Cork Ferries provide a daily service from the United Kingdom between Swansea in South Wales and Cork. This service is suspended for 2007.
• Irish Ferries travel from Holyhead, North Wales to Dublin and from Pembroke, South Wales to Rosslare.
• Stena Line connects Holyhead to Dún Laoghaire (Co. Dublin) (about 8 km south of the city centre) and Fishguard, Southern Wales to Rosslare.
• Irish Ferries and Brittany Ferries provide services from France (e.g. Roscoff) to Rosslare and Cork. Irish Ferries is sometimes significantly cheaper than Brittany Ferries, so compare prices.

Other operators to Ireland include:

• Irish Sea Express - Liverpool to Dublin
• P&O Irish Sea - North West England to Dublin
• Steam Packet Sea Cat - Operate services between the North West of England (Mainly Liverpool) to [[Dublin
• Norse Merchant Ferries - operate Freight and Passenger services to Dublin from the North West of England

From Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Due to ROI's long relationship with the UK, anyone travelling anywhere throughout the British Isles (GB, ROI, and NI) does not require passports. As a consequence, there are no passport controls at land border crossing points. In fact, the border is rarely signposted and it is often difficult to tell when you have crossed from the Republic into the North and vice-versa. The most obvious signal is that the roadsigns on the Republic side are mostly bilingual, in Irish and English, and speed limits and distances are almost always shown in kilometres. Occasionally, the police (Garda or An Garda Síochána) or customs officials may set up random checkpoints at or near border crossing points and may stop and question drivers exiting and entering, but are usually friendly and will normally wave tourists through without any trouble. When arriving at an Irish airport from Great Britain, you will be required to produce photo ID (drivers licence or passport) to prove that you are a British or Irish citizen.