Published by Ciaran Morrison in Driving Licence • 27/07/2011 20:45:37
I have been asked on a number of occasions about Converting your Driving Licence to an Irish Driving Licence.

If you have a driving licence issued by an EU/EEA member state you can drive in Ireland as long as your existing licence is valid. If you wish to exchange your driving licence for an equivalent Irish driving licence, you must do so within 10 years of your driving licence expiring.

Countries in the EU

* Austria
* Belgium
* Bulgaria
* Cyprus
* Czech Republic
* Denmark
* Estonia
* Finland
* France
* Germany
* Greece
* Hungary
* Ireland
* Italy
* Latvia
* Lithuania
* Luxembourg
* Malta
* Poland
* Portugal
* Romania
* Slovakia
* Slovenia
* Spain
* Sweden
* The Netherlands
* United Kingdom

EEA Member States

* Iceland
* Liechtenstein
* Norway

Holders of licences issued by recognised states:

Ireland has agreements with certain other countries/states that designates them as recognised states for the purposes of driving licence exchange. These are:

* Australia
* Gibraltar
* Guernsey
* Isle of Man
* Japan
* Jersey
* South Africa
* South Korea
* Switzerland

If you are a holder of a licence issued by one of these states you can drive in Ireland when visiting, providing your licence is valid. If you become normally resident in Ireland, you can drive for up to 12 months from the date of becoming resident, as long as your licence has not expired. You are considered to be normally resident in Ireland if, because of personal and occupational ties, you usually live here for at least 185 days in each calendar year.

If you wish to exchange your driving licence for an equivalent Irish driving licence, you must do so within one year of your driving licence expiring.