Ireland (Lonely Planet, 9th Edition) - Fionn Davenport [627]
There are four Irish service providers: Vodafone, O2, Meteor and 3. There are three mobile codes – 085, 086 and 087. All have links with most international GSM providers, which allow you to ‘roam’ onto a local service on arrival. This means you can use your mobile phone to text and make local calls, but note that you’ll be charged at a much higher rate. You can also purchase a pay-as-you-go package with a local provider using your own GSM mobile phone (check that it can handle the frequencies mentioned above). As you use up your airtime, you simply buy a top-up card (€10 to €35) at a newsagency or petrol station. Similar schemes exist in Northern Ireland.
Phone Codes
To call the Republic of Ireland from abroad, you’ll need to dial your country’s international access code, followed by 353 (the Republic’s country code), then the domestic number including the area code (minus the initial ‘0’).
When calling Northern Ireland from abroad, dial your international access code, then 44 (the UK country code), then 28 (the North’s area code), and then the local number. To call Northern Ireland from Britain, simply dial 028, then the local number. This changes to 048 when calling from the Republic.
The area code for the whole of Northern Ireland is 028, so domestic callers need only dial the eight-digit local number.
To call UK numbers from the Republic dial 00-44, then the area code minus the initial ‘0’, then the local number. Do the same for international calls, replacing 44 with the country code.
To call Britain from Northern Ireland, dial the area code followed by the local number. To place an international call or to call the Republic from Northern Ireland, dial 00 followed by the country code, then the area code (dropping any leading ‘0’) and the local number.
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TIME
In winter, Ireland is on Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), also known as Universal Time Coordinated (UTC), the same as Britain. In summer, the clock shifts to GMT plus one hour, so when it’s noon in Dublin and London, it’s 4am in Los Angeles and Vancouver, 7am in New York and Toronto, 1pm in Paris, 7pm in Singapore, and 9pm in Sydney.
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TOILETS
Forget about the few public facilities on the street: they’re dirty and usually overrun with drug dealers and addicts. All shopping centres have public toilets – often marked with the Irish Fir (Men) and Mná (Women); if you’re stranded, go into any bar or hotel.
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TOURIST INFORMATION
Fáilte Ireland ( in the Republic 1850 230 330, in the UK 0800 039 7000; www.discoverireland.ie) and the Northern Irish Tourist Board (NITB; head office 9023 1221; www.discovernorthernireland.com) are mines of information.
Both websites include an accommodation booking service; reservations can also be made via the tourist boards’ system Gulliver Ireland ( 066-9792030; www.gulliver.ie).
Fáilte Ireland has an office in Belfast ( 9032 7888) and NITB has an office in Dublin ( within the Republic 01-679 1977, 1850 230 230).
In both the Republic and the North there’s a tourist office in almost every big town; most can offer a variety of services including accommodation and attraction reservations, currency changing services, map and guidebook sales and free publications. Fáilte Ireland also has six regional offices, which can give more in-depth information on specific areas.
Main Regional Tourist Offices in the Republic
Cork & Kerry ( 021-425 5100; www.discoverireland.ie/southwest; Cork Kerry Tourism, Áras Discover, Grand Pde, Cork)
Dublin ( 01-605 7700; www.visitdublin.com; Dublin Tourism Centre, St Andrew’s Church, 2 Suffolk St, Dublin)
East Coast & Midlands ( 044-934 8761; www.discoverireland.ie/eastcoast; East Coast & Midlands Tourism, Dublin Rd, Mullingar) For Kildare, Laois, Longford, Louth, Meath, North Offaly, Westmeath and Wicklow.
Ireland North West & Lakelands ( 071-916 1201; www.discoverireland.ie/northwest;