Can you drive from Southern Ireland Into Northern Ireland?

Question

I am going on vacation to Ireland. I was told you cannot drive a rental car from Southern Ireland into Northern Ireland. Is this true? Or can you drive anywhere in the country?

Answer 1

You can't drive the rental car from s. to N, don't quite know why but its probably that they don't want their car ruined lol. There are a few companies that will let you, you just have to make sure before you rent it.

Answer 2

First of all there is no such country as Southern Ireland, its the Republic of Ireland.  There used to be a rule that you could not drive a hire car into Northern Ireland.  However, that rule is now gone as far as I know.  Everyone else is right - no one will even bother about it being a hire car.

Relax and enjoy your trip

Answer 3

You can drive anywhere you want in Ireland - nobody will check whether your car is a rental or not, they have no reason to. Enjoy your holiday.

Answer 4

drive anywhere you want mate, in whatever you want... so long as you have a license for the vehicle. i live near border and there is no check points even anymore!

Answer 5

you can drive anywhere you want plus it may not take you very long to do so.its not a big country you coulfd go from top to bottom in mayb 7 hours and left to right in mayb 4 hours.its a beautiful country be sure to take in kerry,galway,belfast and dublin. be careful in northern ireland as some parts are quite rough!!

Answer 6

You can drive anywhere in the County......theres nobody to check if its a rental car anyway!!!!

Answer 7

Country called Ireland not southern Ireland. Yes you can go where ever.

Answer 8

Well first no country exists called “Southern Ireland”. The country is called just plain old Ireland (you can go ahead & call it the Republic of Ireland either). The south is a geographical area of the country, nothing got to do with the name of a country. Where the confusion probably is arising here is because there is a country called Northern Ireland.

Think of it like this: in the USA there is West Virginia & another state called Virginia not East Virginia. In Ireland there is a county called West Meath & also a county called Meath again not East Meath. So you see, much like calling these places “East …..” calling the country Southern Ireland is just plain incorrect & wrong!

As to your question, by can you drive anywhere in the country I think you mean any where on the island (remember the island has too countries, Ireland & Northern Ireland). The answer is yes you can drive any where you want (unless the particular rental agency has a specific rule on this, that is down to each company & I am sure they will inform you that!).

Answer 9

Not sure about rentals but I do know there are no longer border guards there anymore.

Answer 10

You can drive anywhere in the country. Just make sure you are covered with the rental company to drive to N.Ireland.

Answer 11

its all on the one island so u can drive anywhere u like

Answer 12

Of course you can. In fact, you may not even notice that you've crossed the border unless you're looking out for it; in the North, the speed limit signs are in miles per hour rather than km/hr, and the motorway designations are different. BTW, there is no "Southern Ireland"; it is properly referred to as the Republic of Ireland.

Answer 13

You can drive your car hire from the Republic into Northern Ireland no problem, but you need to check out the terms and conditions of the company that you intend hiring the car from, as some car hire companies apply a surcharge cross border fee to cover AA assistance, insurance etc... so better to check with the company that you intend hiring from!