Publication
Travelling to Ireland during the COVID-19 pandemic
From Department of the Taoiseach
Published on
Last updated on
Government advice to avoid non-essential travel, and related penalties will remain in place until 18 July. As and from 19 July this will be changed to advise citizens to travel safely and in accordance with public health guidance and restrictions.
All passengers arriving in Ireland must:
- complete a COVID-19 Passenger Locator Form
- provide evidence that you have a negative or ‘not detected’ result from a COVID-19 Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) test carried out no more than 72 hours before you arrive into Ireland, or have evidence that you are exempt from this legal requirement
If you are travelling from or via a designated State then you must also pre-book and pre-pay for a place in a designated facility for mandatory hotel quarantine.
If you are coming to Ireland from overseas, including if you are travelling onwards to Northern Ireland, you must complete COVID-19 Passenger Locator Form.
Failure to complete this form is an offence.
If you arrive via Northern Ireland and have been overseas in the 14 days prior to your arrival in Ireland, then you must complete an electronic COVID-19 Passenger Locator Form online.
The e-receipt must be saved for 14 days after arrival and produced upon request to a Member of An Garda Síochána.
An exemption from completing the form is in place for providers of essential supply chain services (such as hauliers, pilots and maritime staff) and diplomats.
Once you have arrived in Ireland you must comply with the health restrictions in place in Ireland.
Passengers travelling to Northern Ireland must ensure that they are familiar with the guidance and regulations in place, including the completion of a UK Passenger Locator form.
If you are arriving into Ireland from overseas or are transiting through an Irish port or airport you must have a negative/‘not detected’ result from a pre-departure COVID-19 Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) test carried out no more than 72 hours prior to your arrival in Ireland. Antigen or other test types do not meet the requirements.
You will be asked to show evidence of this negative or 'not detected' result before boarding the airplane or ferry from the country you are travelling from and will be denied boarding if you cannot produce such evidence. Once you arrive in Ireland - you have to provide this evidence to Irish immigration officers.
You should retain the written confirmation of your test result for at least 14 days.
If you arrive without evidence of a negative or 'not detected' RT-PCR test or a valid exemption:
- this is an offence
- you must enter and pay for mandatory quarantine in a hotel until either you receive a negative or ‘not detected’ RT-PCR test result or you have quarantined in the hotel for 10 days
If you arrive into Ireland from overseas and enter via Northern Ireland, then you must have a negative or 'not detected' RT-PCR test result taken within 72 hours of arrival at the point of entry and retain this test result for 14 days after arrival. It must be shown upon request to a member of An Garda Síochána (the Irish police force).
- People who are travelling in the course of their duties and are an international transport worker in possession of an annex 3 certificate, the driver of a heavy goods vehicle or are aviation crew or maritime crew
- patients travelling to Ireland for urgent medical reasons, and that reason is certified by registered medical practitioner or person holding an equivalent qualification outside the State
- children aged 6 and under
- passengers whose journey originated in Northern Ireland and have not been overseas in the 14-day prior to arrival
- a member of the Gardaí or Defence Forces personnel travelling to the State in the course of performing his or her duties
- a person who travels to the State pursuant to an arrest warrant, extradition proceedings or other mandatory legal obligation
- travel to perform the function of or provide services to an office holder or elected representative, where such travel to Ireland is required to continue providing such services or performing such functions
- if a citizen has a genuine humanitarian emergency requiring urgent travel, and might not be able to obtain the result of a pre-departure RT-PCR test in time, they should contact the nearest embassy or consulate immediately for advice and consular assistance before commencing their journey
Mandatory quarantine requirements apply to all persons who have been overseas in the 14-days prior to entering Ireland. Arrivals from designated States are subject to mandatory hotel quarantine.
Post-arrival COVID-19 RT-PCR test for all passengers arriving in Ireland from Great Britain
- the following advice also applies to individuals who travel to Ireland from Northern Ireland and who have been in Great Britain in the 14 days prior to their arrival in Ireland.
- all arriving passengers from Great Britain are required by law to quarantine at home for 14 days. If you do not fulfil the legal requirement for mandatory quarantine, you are committing an offence.
- passengers are requested to arrange a COVID-19 Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) test to be taken at least 5 days after arrival in Ireland.
- this test is free of charge and can be booked in advance on www.gov.ie/test or by visiting any HSE testing centre. The test should be booked in advance of arrival in Ireland and must be booked for a date at least five (5) days after arrival.
- you may book a day 5 test by visiting the test booking website.
- you can also arrange a test by using a HSE walk-in testing centre.
- the 14-day period of home quarantine can be shortened if you receive a not-detected RT-PCR test result from this test taken at least 5 days after arrival
- However, if you are not fully vaccinated, you are advised to stay in quarantine and arrange a further RT-PCR test to be taken at least 10 days after arrival in Ireland. You are requested to stay in quarantine until you get a ‘not detected’ RT-PCR test result from this day 10 test
- this second test will also be provided free-of-charge by the HSE. You may get a day 10 test by visiting a HSE walk-in testing centre.
You should retain the written confirmation of your test results for at least 14 days.
For all others arriving in Ireland from non-designated States:
- a 14-day quarantine period must be undertaken at the address specified on the Passenger Locator Form
- passengers who travel from another country to Ireland, and arrive via Northern Ireland, must also observe the mandatory quarantine regime
- you may only leave your place of residence during the quarantine period for unavoidable reasons of an emergency nature to protect a person’s health or welfare, to leave the State or to obtain a post-arrival COVID-19 test
- you can end your period of quarantine if you receive written confirmation of a negative or ‘not detected’ RT-PCR test result taken no less than 5 days after arrival. You must retain the written confirmation of your test result for at least 14 days
If you do not fulfil the legal requirement for mandatory quarantine you are committing an offence.
There some limited exemptions from the requirement to complete mandatory quarantine:
- patients travelling to Ireland for urgent medical reasons
- international transport workers in possession of an Annex 3 Certificate; Drivers of Heavy Goods Vehicles; Aviation and maritime crew
- Gardaí/Defence Forces personnel, while carrying out their duties
- travel to the State pursuant to an arrest warrant, extradition proceedings or other mandatory legal obligation
- diplomats, or travel to perform the function of or provide services to an office holder or elected representative
- transit passengers who arrive for the purposes of travelling to another State, and who do not leave the port or airport
The following may temporarily leave their place of quarantine when necessary to perform their essential function – and only for as long as strictly required:
- a person required to carry out essential repair, maintenance, construction or safety assurance of critical transport infrastructure, critical utility infrastructure, manufacturing services, information services, or communication services
- a member of staff of an international organisation, or person invited, carrying out functions required for the proper functioning of such organisations and which cannot be carried out remotely
- a passenger who is participating in a sporting event and has been provided with written certification by Sport Ireland
- journalists, carrying out their professional functions
Travel to Ireland from specific designated States is subject to mandatory hotel quarantine. This must be pre-booked in advance of travel.
These arrangements apply to any passenger who has been in any of these countries in the previous 14 days, even if only transiting through one of these countries and even if remaining airside.
These arrangements also apply to any passenger who is travelling on to Northern Ireland.
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.
The Minister for Health has designated the following countries as designated States for the purposes of mandatory hotel quarantine:
- Angola
- Botswana
- Burundi
- Cape Verde
- Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Egypt
- Eswatini
- Ethiopia
- Kenya
- Lesotho
- Malawi
- Mozambique
- Namibia
- Rwanda
- Seychelles
- Somalia
- South Africa
- Sudan
- Tanzania
- Uganda
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
Note: Nigeria was removed from this list on Saturday, 22 May with immediate effect
- Afghanistan
- Bahrain
- Bangladesh
- India
- Maldives
- Mongolia (measures will come into place at 4am on Tuesday, 22 June)
- Nepal
- Oman
- Pakistan
- Qatar
- Sri Lanka
- The Philippines
- United Arab Emirates
Note: Kuwait and Mongolia were removed from this list on Saturday, 22 May with immediate effect
Note: Iran and Palestine were removed from this list on Saturday, 15 May with immediate effect
Note: Jordan and Lebanon were removed from this list on Saturday, 8 May with immediate effect
- Turkey
Note: Belgium, France and Luxembourg were removed from this list on Friday, 28 May with immediate effect
Note: Andorra and Georgia were removed from this list on Saturday, 22 May with immediate effect
Note: Montenegro and Serbia were removed from this list on Saturday, 15 May with immediate effect
Note: Armenia, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Italy, Kosovo, North Macedonia and Ukraine were removed from this list on Saturday, 8 May with immediate effect
- Costa Rica
- Panama
Note: Canada was removed from this list on Friday, 18 June with immediate effect
Note: the United States of America was removed from this list on Friday, 28 May with immediate effect
Note: Puerto Rico was removed from this list on Saturday, 22 May with immediate effect
Note: Bermuda was removed from this list on Saturday, 15 May with immediate effect
- Argentina
- Bolivia
- Brazil
- Chile
- Colombia
- Ecuador
- French Guiana
- Guyana
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Suriname
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Uruguay
- Venezuela
Note: Aruba and Curaçao were removed from this list on Saturday, 8 May with immediate effect
Designation under Section 38B (22) of the Health Act 1947
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