Below are some basic points which should be considered when driving in Ireland.

1. Caution should be exercised when driving under the influence of alcohol. The legal tolerance limit is 0.08%.
2. Wearing of seat belts is compulsory in front and rear seats.
3. Children under 12 years age not permitted in front seats.
4. It is recommended to carry breakdown warning triangle, first aid kit, fire extinguisher and spare bulb kit in vehicle. If you wear glasses, bring a spare pair in the car with you.
5. Minimum Driving age: 17 years.
6. Documents required when driving
Valid drivers license
Vehicle title document/registration certificate or vehicle rental agreement
Insurance green card (not obligatory for vehicles registered in IRL or another EU state)
National vehicle oval country of registration plate (not required for vehicles fitted with EU standard format license plates).
 
7. Drive on the left and vehicle headlights should be focused accordingly.
8. Avoid accidents at traffic signals by not braking suddenly when the lights turn to amber.
9. Precedence
Traffic coming from the right-hand side has precedence on roundabouts (traffic rotaries)
10. Direction Sign Colo(u)rs
Freeways/Motorways = Blue
National Primary & Secondary routes = Green
Regional and local routes = White

Driving and mobile phone use in Ireland.

It is now illegal to use a mobile phone while driving in Ireland, unless it is a loudspeaking handsfree device.  Motorists who use hand-held mobile phones face an EUR 435 fine, three months' jail and a six-month driving ban. The ban also applies to truck and other heavy vehicle drivers.

Not permitted while driving.

• Portable hands free kits (i.e. earpiece connected by wire to handheld phone).  The position of wireless Bluetooth headsets is unclear.
• Having a phone switched on in your pocket.
• Use of other radio devices - eg CB, other 2 way radio systems, etc.

Permitted.

• Passenger use of phones.
• Handheld phones switched on in the glove compartment or on a passenger seat - however if you use the phone before parking safely you are committing an offense.

Recommendations.

If you are driving alone, decide your call handling strategy before setting off.  The options include

1. Diverting all calls to voicemail and dealing with them when you park during a break in the journey or when you arrive at your destination.
2. Divert on no answer* to voicemail - allowing you say 30 seconds to pull over and if necessary return the call using the missed caller  CLI.
3. Switch off divert on no answer and let the phone ring until you have time to park the car. Again if the caller hangs up before you get a chance to answer you can always call them back from their CLI.
4. Get a proper car telephone or car kit fitted to your car.

*Note that divert on no answer does not work if you are roaming  AND your home network has not provided you with your own exclusive voicemail number.  On some foreign networks all subscribers share a common voicemail box number which is useless to the roamed in network for routing purposes.  If you find yourself in this situation consider using option 1 or change your network.

 For more information on Driving in Ireland please visit:

An Garda Siochana (National Police Service)
National Safety Council
National Roads Authority
PSNI - Police Service Northern Ireland

(All of the above is for information purposes only and should not be considered as legal advice)..