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Your relationship with a telephone service provider is based on a consumer contract. When shopping around it is important to compare the different terms and conditions. These may include, for example, prices for line rental and calls.

Before you change contracts, it is wise to know the specific terms and conditions of your current contract so that you can compare them to the terms and conditions of a new contract. You should also review a few of your most recent telephone bills and establish your calling pattern (i.e. what type of calls you frequently make and at what time of day), and then shop around and ask the different companies about their call charges. You should ask each operator to provide you with a printed price list in order to check and compare tariffs.

Dialing

Telephone numbers in Ireland are similar in format to those in many European open numbering plans, with only the subscriber's number being required for local dialling.

The trunk prefix is '0' and is followed by an area code, the first digit of which indicates the geographical area. Irish phone numbers are composed of 10 numbers and are usually presented in this format: (0xx) xxx xxxx.

Calls made from mobile phones, however, always require the full area code and phone number.

Calling Codes in Ireland

• 01 — Dublin city, County Dublin and parts of counties Kildare, Wicklow and Meath.
• 02 — Cork city, most of County Cork and a small part of County Waterford : (021) Cork City, (022) Mallow, (023) Bandon, (024) Youghal, (025) Fermoy, (026) Macroom, (027) Bantry, (028) Skibbereen, (029) Kanturk.
• 04 — East Coast (excluding Dublin), and parts of Midlands e.g.(041) Drogheda, (042) Dundalk, (043) Longford, (044) Mullingar, (045) Kildare, (046) Navan, (047) Monaghan, (049) Cavan, (0402) Arklow, (0404) Wicklow.
• 05 — Southeast & East Midlands e.g. : (051) Waterford city, (052) Cahir, (053) Wexford, Rosslare, (056) Kilkenny City, (057) Tullamore, Birr and Portlaoise, (058) Dungarvan, (059) Carlow,(0504) Thurles, (0505) Roscrea,
• 06 — Southwest & Midwest including Counties Kerry and Limerick : (061) Limerick city and Shannon, (062) Cashel, (063) Charleville, (064) Killarney & Kenmare, (065) Ennis, (066) Tralee &Dingle, (067) Nenagh, (068) Listowel, (069) Newcastle West.
• 07 — Northwest including Counties Sligo, Leitrim and Donegal : e.g. : (071) Sligo, Carrick-on-Shannon, Manorhamilton and Bundoran, (074) Letterkenny, Ballybofey, Glenties.
• 08 — Mobile Telephones, Pagers and some non-geographic numbers
• 09 — West and West Midlands, including Counties Galway, Mayo and areas of Westmeath : e.g. (090) Athlone, Portumna and Ballinasloe, (091) Galway city, (093) Tuam and Headford (Co. Galway), (094) Castlebar, (095) Clifden, (096) Ballina, (097) Belmullet, (098) Westport, Achill and off-shore Islands, (099) Kilronan (Off Shore), Aran Islands

To Call Internationally from Ireland

To call abroad from Ireland, dial 00 + country code + number

To Call Ireland Internationally

The country code for Ireland is 353. To call Irish numbers from abroad, you should dial the area code without the first zero after the country code.

Dial 00 + 353 (country code) + area code (without the first zero) + number

Note that mobile prefixes usually start with 08 (e.g. 0822 for Vodafone or 086 for O2).

Mobile Phone Roaming

EU regulations in effect since June 2017 mean that mobile phone customers will be charged the domestic retail price for calls, texts and data when travelling in the European Economic Area (EEA). Check with their roaming service provider to confirm their data allowance before travelling.

Phone Installation in Ireland

The majority of buildings already have the necessary infrastructure for a phone line in place. Therefore, all you have to do is select your preferred provider, contact them, and arrange a date for installation. In case there are problems with the infrastructure, the provider will offer to assist you further by offering suitable alternative solutions.

The majority of providers offer service packages that, in addition to a phone line, also include an Internet connection and interactive TV.

Public Phones

Payphones are becoming less available, but still exist in some public areas. Most of them accept coins and range of major credit cards (simply follow the on-screen instructions). It should be noted that because of the very high levels of penetration of mobile phones in Ireland (-100%) the major phone companies are progressively withdrawing pay phones and are only maintaining them where they are legally obliged to do so under the terms of their license.

Calls to 1-800 numbers are free and do not require a coin deposit or card at payphones, within IRL. Calls to 0800 numbers are free within Northern Ireland and do not require a coin deposit or card at payphones.

Prepaid Cards

Prepaid cards are available in various denominations from most post offices, kiosks, banks and other shops. Cards are sold at values of 5, 10, and 15 Euros.

The same steps generally apply to any calling card:

• Dial the access number
• Enter your PIN number
• Enter the number you wish to dial

Skype, Google and other ways to connect

There is an increasing amount of good quality online and mobile services that provide opportunities for calling and sending messages free of charge. For more information take a look at our article Expats Connect: Skype and Other Services.

Phone directory: https://www.eirphonebook.ie/