All passengers arriving into Ireland from designated states after 4am on the morning of Friday 26 March are now required to pre-book accommodation in a designated quarantine facility, and to pre-pay for their stay.
| Where you are coming from | Measures in place |
| If you come into Ireland from a designated state | You must complete a minimum period of 10 days of mandatory quarantine in a hotel. However, if you receive a negative or ‘not detected’ result from a COVID-19 PCR test taken on day 10, your period of quarantine may be completed at home |
| If you come to Ireland without a negative or 'not detected' PCR test | You must enter mandatory quarantine in a hotel. You may exit hotel quarantine with a negative or ‘not detected’ result from a COVID-19 PCR test and complete quarantine at home as per the pathway for those travel from any country not deemed a designated state |
| If you come to Ireland from any country not deemed a designated state | You must quarantine at home and may exit quarantine with a negative or 'not detected' PCR test taken 5 days following your arrival at the earliest |
You must complete mandatory hotel quarantine if you come from a designated state.
This includes:
- if you have been in a designated state at any time in the 14 days before you arrive in Ireland
- if you have travelled through an airport or port in a designated state
Passengers will be required to complete a period of mandatory hotel quarantine at a designated facility. This may be reduced if a passenger receives a 'not detected' result following a COVID-19 PCR test that is taken on the tenth day in quarantine. It may also be extended if a passenger tests positive during their stay.
Anyone arriving overland into Ireland from Northern Ireland who has been in or through a designated state in the previous 14 days is responsible for making their own way to their pre-booked designated quarantine hotel within 4 hours. Please note that the UK also has mandatory hotel quarantine requirements which the traveller may have been required to fulfil before arriving into Ireland or Northern Ireland.
Anyone arriving into Ireland who has been in or through a designated state in the previous 14 days is obliged to enter mandatory quarantine in a designated facility and to pre-book it in advance. There is no exemption for people travelling onward overland to Northern Ireland.
Before travelling to Ireland, you must reserve and pay for a place in mandatory hotel quarantine.
If you fall into the category of traveller required to quarantine on arrival, it is an offence if you travel to Ireland without making the booking in advance, without reasonable excuse.
The Irish Defence Forces have been designated as the State Liaison Official (SLO) to support Ireland’s mandatory hotel quarantine policy. Upon arrival into Ireland, regardless of whether you arrive by sea or by air, after immigration and customs processing you will be met by members of the Defence Forces who will ensure you are safely and securely transported from your port of entry to the location in which you will complete your pre-booked mandatory hotel quarantine.
Staff at the facility will greet you and take you through the check in process. They will also provide you with information relating to your stay including on food choices, exercise and wellbeing.
The Irish Defence Forces are available to support you from the moment you arrive in Ireland until you complete your mandatory hotel quarantine and exit the facility. They will be onsite 24/7 at your facility throughout your stay to liaise with the hotel service provider to ensure it is safe, secure and comfortable experience.
It is a criminal offence if you do not fulfil the legal requirement to present for mandatory hotel quarantine, if you resist being brought to quarantine or if you leave a designated facility without authorisation. A person found guilty of these or other relevant offences is liable for a fine of up to €2,000, imprisonment for 1 month, or both.
An Garda Síochána (the Irish police service) will investigate any suspected offences and enforce these laws.
Once you have completed the period of mandatory hotel quarantine (this could be reduced if you get a 'not detected' result of a COVID-19 PCR test that is taken after ten days), you will receive a letter of completion. You will then be free to leave the mandatory hotel quarantine facility.
The cost of testing for COVID-19 is included in the mandatory hotel quarantine fee structure.
If you are fully vaccinated and have the documents to prove that then you do not have to complete mandatory hotel quarantine when you come to Ireland. Any dependents travelling with you, including children, will also be exempted from the requirement to complete mandatory hotel quarantine.
However, if even you are fully vaccinated, you still have to have a negative pre-departure PCR test and complete a period of self-quarantine at home or wherever you specified in your passenger locator form.
| Type of vaccine | You are regarded as fully vaccinated after |
| Pfizer-BioNtech | 7 days after 2nd dose |
| Moderna | 14 days after 2nd dose |
| Oxford-AstraZeneca | 15 days after 2nd dose |
| Johnson & Johnson/Janssen | 14 days after single dose |
All families travelling with new-born babies (no more than 28 days old), including those who have travelled to a designated state for the purpose of surrogacy, do not have to complete mandatory hotel quarantine when you come to Ireland.
However, all travellers still have to have a negative pre-departure PCR test and complete a period of self-quarantine at home or wherever you specified in your passenger locator form.
The Health (Amendment) Act 2021 identifies those who are exempt from mandatory hotel quarantine. If your trip to Ireland is not in any of the categories below, then you must complete mandatory hotel quarantine at a designated facility:
- arriving into the State in the course of duty and who hold a valid Annex 3 certificate (ensuring the availability of goods and essential services)
- arriving in the State in the course of duty and are drivers of a heavy goods vehicle
- airline pilots, aircrew, maritime master or maritime crew and who arrive in the State in the course of performing duties
- travelling to the State pursuant to an arrest warrant, extradition proceedings or other mandatory legal obligation
- a member of An Garda Síochána or Defence Forces (or their equivalents from another state) and travelling to the State in course of duty
- travelling to the State for unavoidable, imperative and time-sensitive medical reasons and these reasons are certified by a registered medical practitioner or person with equivalent qualifications outside the State
- having been outside of the State to provide services to or perform the functions of an office holder (under any enactment or the Constitution) or a member of either house of the Oireachtas or the European Parliament
- diplomats and certain other categories of persons entitled to privileges and immunities in the State
Regulations will also exempt transit passengers who do not leave the port or airport before travelling out of the State and who have a 'not detected' COVID-19 PCR test result, following a test taken within 72 hours of their arrival into Ireland.
You should be aware that requests for review can be based only on a limited number of grounds and that public health will remain a paramount consideration.
It is important to note that the list of designated states will be subject to change at short notice and passengers are required to check the list before travelling to Ireland, to be sure of their obligations.
If you believe that you are not required to undergo quarantine or you are required to leave quarantine early, you may request a review. This can only be done once you are already in quarantine (that is, you cannot request a review before travelling), and only for the limited reasons set out in the relevant legislation. The SLO (Irish Defence Forces) in your hotel can provide further information on how to apply.
Department of Health Mandatory Hotel Quarantine Handbook
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