Finally a green (cert) light. All you need to know about travel restrictions.
Today, July 19th shall (hopefully) be known as our Independence (to travel) day!
So in what feels like an eternal wait, today is the day! YAY! The government have just published the travel guidelines and opened up the industry for all... with a small catch. However clarity and precise guides to what is, and is not, going to be part of the rules and regulations are a relic to us all. PCR tests, quarantine, green certs and red lists and... gosh I'm actually surprised at how many of these terms are now part of our daily conversations. Hopefully just for the short term though.
So here are the guides to....
1. Travelling from Ireland to other destinations 2. Travelling to Ireland 3. Travelling with children 4. Passengers arriving into Ireland from inside EU + Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway, Switzerland 5. Passengers arriving into Ireland from outside EU + Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway, Switzerland
Travelling from Ireland to other destinations
It is important to check the public health advice and restrictions in place in the country you plan to travel to.
Travelling to Ireland
If you are travelling to Ireland from abroad you must fill out a Passenger Locator Form before departure.
You also have to have appropriate valid proof of vaccination or recovery, or to present evidence of a negative RT-PCR result from a test taken within 72 hours prior to arrival into the country.
Travelling with children
Children between the ages of 12 and 17 will be required to have a negative RT-PCR test taken within 72 hours prior to arrival to travel into the country, unless they have valid proof of vaccination or recovery.
Children of any age, travelling with accompanying vaccinated or recovered adults will not be required to self-quarantine post arrival. However, where one accompanying adult needs to self-quarantine, then all children must also self-quarantine.
Advice on travelling abroad is available on the Department of Foreign Affairs website.
Passengers arriving into Ireland from inside EU + Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway, Switzerland
If you have valid proof of vaccination, no travel-related testing or quarantine will be necessary.
If you have valid proof that you have recovered from COVID in the past 180 days, no travel-related testing or quarantine will be necessary.
If you do not have valid proof of vaccination or recovery, you will need to present evidence of a negative RT-PCR result from a test taken within 72 hours prior to arrival into the country
Passengers arriving into Ireland from outside EU + Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway, Switzerland
Please note: This includes those arriving from Great Britain.
Emergency brake mechanism
To protect its citizens against importation of variants of COVID-19, an ‘emergency brake’ mechanism will be coordinated at EU level to react swiftly to the emergence of a variant of concern or variant of interest.
Government advice will be to avoid travel to a country where the emergency brake has been applied.
If your journey originates in a country to which an emergency brake has not been applied
If you have valid proof of vaccination, no travel-related testing or quarantine will be necessary.
If you have valid proof of recovery from COVID in the past 180 days, no travel-related testing or quarantine will be necessary.
If you do not have valid proof of vaccination or recovery, you will need to:
present evidence of a negative result from a RT-PCR test taken within 72 hours prior to arrival into the country
self-quarantine for 14 days
if you receive a negative result from a RT-PCR test taken from day 5 onwards after arrival into Ireland, you will be able to leave quarantine
If your journey originates in a country to which an emergency brake has been applied
If you have valid proof of vaccination, you will need to:
present evidence of a negative result from a RT-PCR test taken no more than 72 hours before arrival
undergo self-quarantine
if you receive a negative result from a RT-PCR test taken from day 5 onwards after arrival into Ireland, you will be able to leave quarantine.
If you have valid proof that you have recovered from COVID-19 in the past 180 days, you will need to:
present evidence of a negative result from a RT-PCR test taken no more than 72 hours before arrival
undergo self-quarantine
if you receive a negative result from a RT-PCR test taken from day 5 onwards after arrival into Ireland, you will be able to leave quarantine.
If you do not have valid proof of vaccination or recovery, you will need to:
present evidence of a negative RT-PCR test result taken in previous 72 hours before arrival
undergo mandatory hotel quarantine
if you receive a negative result from a RT-PCR test taken from day 10 onwards after arrival into Ireland, you will be able to leave quarantine.
Proof of vaccination, recovery or negative test
Ireland is now a part of theEU Digital COVID Certificate (DCC) for travel originating within the EU/EEA. The Digital COVID Certificate will make it easier to travel to and from these countries and will be accepted as proof of vaccination, recovery or negative test.
Approved Vaccines
For the purposes of travel, you are considered vaccinated if you have been vaccinated with a vaccine approved by the European Medicines Agency with recommended number of days after the final dose.