Talk:Vehicle registration plates of Ireland

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ireland Portal
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Ireland, an attempt to build a comprehensive and detailed guide to Ireland on Wikipedia. For more information, or to get involved, visit the project page.
Start This article has been rated as start-Class on the Project's quality scale.
(If you rated the article please give a short summary at comments to explain the ratings and/or to identify the strengths and weaknesses.)
Mid This article has been rated as mid-importance on the priority scale.
Cars Portal
This article is within the scope of Wikipedia Project Automobiles, a collective approach to creating a comprehensive guide to the world of automobiles on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, you are encouraged to visit the project page, where you can contribute to the discussion.
??? This article has not yet received a rating on the Project's quality scale. Please rate the article and then leave a short summary here to explain the ratings and/or to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the article.
??? This article has not yet been assigned a rating on the importance scale.
WikiProject Motorcycling Vehicle registration plates of Ireland is within the scope of the Motorcycling WikiProject, which aims to improve Wikipedia's coverage of motorcycles and motorcycling. If you would like to participate, you can visit the project page, where you can join the project and see a list of open tasks.

This is a most excellent page. Giving the basic information in an easily accessible way, yet linking to the COMPLETE ORIGINAL specifications! Fantastic job, whoever you are. This is how Wikipedia should be. Way too many articles try to rehash original materiel, without referring to it or linking to it.


Contents

[edit] Numerological Superstition

Does anyone know about a registration with 666 as its sequence number?

I remember a few years ago hearing a radio program that said registrations were never given out with the number 666 in it!

Can anyone shed light on this?

conorb (At) gmail.com

I know for a fact that this is false. Ironically, a religion teacher in secondary school drove a black car (A Ford Orion I believe) with the reg no. of 666. (I kid you not!) zoney ▓   ▒ talk 23:11, 4 Sep 2004 (UTC)

I can also confirm that this was false. In Mayo a few years ago there was an incident where some guy with some obsession with the number "666" illegally fitted a 9?MO666 number plate (cant remember the exact year of registration but it was in the 1990's) to his car

Anyway by a couple of twists of bizzare coincidince the guy was driving along the N5 at Ballyvary (near Castlebar) one day and overtook a van bearing the REAL 9?MO666 number plate meanwhile behind him was a car in which a photographer from a local newspaper (The Connaught Telegraph IIRC) was travelling as a passenger. The photograph of car overtaking the van bearing the same number plate appeared in the paper the following week. Needless to say the local gardai (police) took a dim view of this and within weeks managed to locate and aprehend the driver of the car. Despite there being some obvious doubts about the guys state of mental health he was put on trial and fined (reportedly with a warning that he would face more serious penelties i.e. prison if he reoffended). The question of whether he should retain his driving licence given the aforementioned doubts about his state of mind apparently never arose !

I have heard of authorities in some countries deciding not to issue number plates ending in "13" or "666" because of the volumes of protests/requests for number changes from particularly religious and/or superstitious individuals.80.229.222.48 22:27, 31 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] NI regs

Addition by an anon IP:

Please note: There have been noted cases of vehicles from Northern Ireland registering their cars in the UK (as must be done) but to the Republic's standard such as:
:County Armagh - AH

I seriously doubt this is true. Evidence is needed before such a far-fetched claim can be inserted.

As far as I am aware, NI reg's continue to use the old British system for Ireland (that used to be all-Ireland). I do not know whether they yet use the EU style number plates. In England "GB" is used on these, but that would be technically incorrect for NI (they aren't in Great Britain, but are in the United Kingdom).

zoney ♣ talk 20:44, 26 Feb 2005 (UTC)

No this is actually true. I have also seen a NI car with 99-AH-????? (It didn't actually have the question marks, obviously). I don't how it was done, but it did DEFINITLY say AH. I think the line should be put back in. I don't unfortunatly have hard PROOF, it's not like I had a camera or anything. -Gerbon689
You may indeed have seen an NI car with AH, but this was most likely an illegal number plate. A Dublin driver tried to do likewise soon after the introduction of the current plates from 1987. Instead of the mandatory 8x-D-xxxx, he decided on his own authority that 8x-BÁC-xxxx was what he was entitled to show on his number plate, his excuse being that he always refered Dublin as "Baile Átha Cliath", and not "Dublin". Anyway, the courts decided that he did not have the right to change his numberplates to his personal liking, and ruled his "BÁC" plate as illegal...
Nothern Irish plates don't carry the GB band. For obvious reasons, really. --Kiand 21:02, 1 August 2005 (UTC)
Actually some do but its not (yet?) compulsory. Some use "NI" but (like "CYM" and "SCO") I dont think these are internationally recognised. As for illegal numberplates on NI cars I saw a black taxi on the Falls road in Belfast onetime with TWO numberplates one official "EKZ xxxx" and the other totally illegal "9x AM xxxx" complete with (oversized) IRL logo 80.229.222.48 19:39, 2 April 2007 (UTC)
Funny, many people from Derry who move to Donegal retain their UK plates (illegally of course). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 194.46.181.184 (talk) 02:06, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Pre-1987 cars

The article doesn't say anything, but is it possible for an older car to be given a post-1987 format number? I could swear that when I was in Dublin a few years ago I spotted an old Rover 2000 with a 70 C nnn plate, but in the old white-on-black lettering style! -- Arwel 00:13, 11 July 2005 (UTC)

When importing a pre-1987 car and registering it in Ireland for the first time, the Revenue Commissioners will allow you the choice of an older style 'ZV' plate, or a newer style 70 C nnnn plate. Regarding the style of the plate, if it was legal for the plate to be in that style at the time of original registration, it is still legal to display that style of plate. And that's how I have a silver & black 69 D plate on my Land Rover :-) AndrewH 09:52, 11 July 2005 (UTC)

Ah, that explains that I wasn't going mad. I just couldn't figure out how it had been done! Thanks. -- Arwel 10:50, 11 July 2005 (UTC)
As I rememeber at the time some people had their pre 1987 plates re-registered as pre 1987 in the form 70 C nnnn - it was kind of a fad - dont quote me on this as I am very vague on the details! Another thing that was very popular in post 1987 was to purchase a car in the late/early year and put "FOR REG" in place of number plates until it was possible to register in the new year and receive plates. This did not last much beyond the mid ninties because of concerns with theft and law and was very popular among the Jones'. Djegan 18:20, 11 July 2005 (UTC)
Old Registration Plates - Table. As far as I recalled from years ago the Counties IA, IB, IC etc were issued alphabetically... This is not obvious from the table as the table starts with AI - the first entry should be I = Ireland and A = First County ==> IA = Ireland, Antrim, IB = Ireland Armagh... etc. in county alpha order... until IZ = Ireland, Mayo - whereupon the I was placed after the county letter to create AI - Meath,Ireland, BI = Monaghan, Ireland ... until NI = Wicklow, Ireland..... After that the likehood is that the rest of the double letter codes were used as required and subsequently the Zx codies.

The important point really is that the Ix and xI codes are part of the same double letter sequence - but the table does not show this. Reversing the Table so that it starts with IA and the moves to AI and the ZA.

Also it should be noted that a third letter was used in font of the doule letter county code, e.g AZI 915 , TZC 112... also the letter and umber sequences could be reversed 485 RI, 475 BIK, 176 MRI - In Nothern Ireland a 4 digit number sequence was introduced e.g MIA 1234

Plate Colour, The plates photos omit 1. the Red plate was a rear place with a corresponding white plate at the front. Both these plates were reflective. Prior to those plates Black Plates with Silver letters/numbers were used. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.43.160.105 (talk) 18:00, 3 April 2008 (UTC)


[edit] Temporary Plates? (Motor Trade Licence Plates)

Could someone enlighten us on these? I think they're temporary anyway - those white-on-green plates often used by car dealers (usually just stuck inside the windscreens). I've seen them on trucks sometimes as well. What are they for exactly? --Zilog Jones 23:26, 8 August 2005 (UTC)

  • They are used by dealers to cover any un-regestered car for road use by anyone who displays these plates in the window of the car.
    • They are used by motor dealers when giving "test drives" to prospective purchasers of a new (as opposed to secondhand) car. 80.229.222.48 19:36, 27 April 2007 (UTC)
      • Motor Trade Licence Plates S.I. No. 409 of 1992 and S.I. No. 23 of 1993. Temporary Plates i.e. "ZZ" registration, is designed to permit the use of a vehicle in a public place for up to one month e.g. temporary import or new unregistered vehicle for export. Timewatcher 10:02, 5 May 2007 (UTC)

The "ZZ" and "Green on white" number plates serve different functions.

ZZ plates are used for new cars sold in the Republic of Ireland which the buyer intends to export within a month of purchase. They are white on a black background with a small red logo indicating the month of registration.

Green and white follow a (digits) (one/two letters) (two year digit) format and are generally used by motor dealers giving test drives. They are transferrable between vehicles i.e. a showroom could have a dozen vehicles but only two or three plates. They only need enough plates to cover the maximum possible number of test drives likely to be taking place at one time. 80.229.222.48 23:25, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] IE as the county code

I have seen on Irish advertising, cars with the letters IE, as the county code without the county's name in the plate. Is this the commercial county-less number plate used in adverts and promotions? 159753 17:52, 3 April 2006 (UTC)

I would suspect its a promotion, any examples? Djegan 18:41, 3 April 2006 (UTC)


[edit] Font used on plates

The article is incorrect in that the font for the number IS set by the government, and use of a font other than that dictated will result in failure of the National Car Test.

There is no set character font set by the government for irish number plates other than black readable characters. Readable characters as in ones that are, for example, not in fancy italic style or not in script writing style. Ireland and France are possibly the only EU countries that do not enforce the use of one particular style of font.
I have heard of complaints about people being failed on the National car test for failing to have the county name in the Irish language on their numberplates even though this is not actually legally required (Note: this is unverified secondhand information but Id be interested in hearing from someone who can credibly confirm or debunk it) 80.229.222.48

[edit] Odd trivia

Some British army vehicles seem to bear a registration that is uncannily like the Irish format. The have the form XX-KK-XXXX (all registered in Kilkenny :)

Seriously though, I'd like some proper information on this, as it does look quite odd if one is familiar with Irish reg plates (particularly the fact of KK for Kilkenny).

zoney ♣ talk 15:01, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

Some British forces vehicles do have two digits, two letters and two digits. The letters could be anything but were later issued as KA, KB, KC etc. I had an ex-military Land Rover which was 74KFnn whilst in service. The more recent format for military vehicles seems to be two letters, two digits and two letters. Either way, the plates tend to be white on black for vehicles used in the field, but civilian-derived vehicles (cars and artics) have the white front and yellow rear plates as per civilian practice. BTW the new British plates (AA nn AAA) are not allowed to be represented with the three parts on separate lines, to avoid confusion with forces registrations. Hope this information is useful. 213.120.3.252 20:06, 1 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Military plates

The article currently reads, "Vehicles registered to the Irish Defence Forces have plates with silver letters on black background. These do not feature the Irish-language county name; in practice all are registered in Dublin."

I have seen and photographed such a silver-on-black plate with the KK (Kilkenny) code; is the statement that all military vehicles are registered in Dublin correct? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Qqqqqq (talk • contribs) 16:40, 11 December 2007 (UTC)

Yep. The statement in the article re-colour of plates; no Irish - definitely correct. Registered in Dublin? - not so sure, though very many are. (Sarah777 (talk) 00:53, 12 December 2007 (UTC))