Telephone numbers in the Republic of Ireland

Numbers on the Irish Telephone Numbering Plan are regulated and assigned to operators by Comreg. The numbers are assigned as follows:

Overview and history

Country Code: 353
International Call Prefix: 00

Telephone numbers in Ireland are similar in format to those in the United Kingdom, with only the subscriber's number being required for local dialing. The trunk prefix is '0' followed by an area code, the first digit indicating the geographical area.

01  Dublin
02  Cork (021) and South
04  Drogheda (041) and East 
05  Waterford (051) and South East
06  Limerick (061) and South West
07  Sligo (071) and North West
09  Galway (091) and West

Area codes have varied in length, between one and three digits, and subscribers' numbers between five and seven digits but a migration to a standard format, as follows, is in process:

 (0xx) xxx xxxx

Dublin numbers are currently seven digits, but may change to eight digits in the future, although breaking the city into separate area codes would match the rest of the national system.

The 08 numbering range was previously used for calls to Northern Ireland, but following the UK's renumbering of Northern Ireland in 2000, this changed, so to call a number in Belfast from the Republic:

Before 2000: (080) 1232 xxx xxx
After 2000: (048) 90xx xxxx; 
or via the UK numbering plan;  00 44 28 90xx xxxx 

Calls to Northern Ireland landlines are, unlike calls to the rest of the UK, charged at national rates.

The 03 numbering range was originally used for calls to Great Britain, but this was discontinued in 1992, when the international access code changed from 16 to 00. For a short period in the early 1990s 0300 was used for premium rate services (see below)

 Before 1992: 030 xxx xxx xxx
 After 1992:  00 44 xxx xxx xxx

The prefixes 151x, 1530, 1540, 1550 (Initially 0300), 1559, 1560, 1570 and 1580 are for premium rate Services which are more expensive than other telephone calls. These numbers provide a range of services from weather forecasting to adult dating. Regtel an independent body monitors the premium rate services industry.

Mobile phones use the prefixes 083, 085, 086 and 087. 088 was previously issued to the Eircell analogue service. This has subsequently been issued to Digiweb. The other operator which plans to launch in Summer 2007 is Tesco Mobile which will use the prefix 089. While mobile numbers are portable between operators, all new numbers are issued in an operators own allocation - 083 for 3, 085 for Meteor (mobile network), 086 for O2 and 087 for Vodafone. Due to number portability, the full number must be dialed even if it has the same prefix as the caller's number.

Freephone services use the prefix 1800, while shared cost (Lo-Call) numbers use the prefix 1850. 1890 (local rate) numbers are issued to non-geographic services, with 0818 being charged at national rate, or slightly higher.

One disadvantage of this arrangement is that Irish shared cost numbers are inaccessible from outside the Republic (unlike, for example, UK local and national rate numbers, which can be accessed by dialing 0044845 or 0044870), although numbers with the 0818 prefix can be dialled internationally, for example, as 00353818 from the UK. Consequently, many organisations that operate on both sides of the border advertise separate non-geographic numbers, for example, a 1800, 1850 or 0818 number for callers from the Republic, and an 0800, 0845 or 0870 number for callers from Northern Ireland.

Dial-up Internet providers are entitled, but not required, to use numbers in the 189x range. 1891 numbers cost slightly below local call rate, and are often provided for subscription dialup packages. 1892 numbers are used for full local rate dialup, and 1893 for variable-rate dialup.

A new area was introduced in 2005, using the 076 access code. This is allocated to VOIP providers, and is treated as either a national or local call by individual telecoms operators.

The 13xx code is used for accessing third party long distance/International service providers and some internet services

Geographically assigned

Main article: List of Irish dialling codes

• 01 - Dublin area - also extends to certain parts of Wicklow, Meath and Kildare.
• 021-029 - Southern area; Cork, Fermoy etc
• 0402 - Arklow.
• 0404 - Wicklow.
• 041-047, 049 - North East Midlands and parts of Wicklow .
• 048 - Northern Ireland landline access (may also be dialed as an international call to the UK using 004428 ).
• 051-059 Midlands and South East.
• 060 Currently unused.
• 061-069 South West and Mid West Area
• 071, 074 - North West Area.
• 090-099 - Midlands and Western Area.

Mobile services

• 082 - Paging services (Eirpage)
• 083 - 3 Ireland
• 085 - Meteor
• 086 - O2 Ireland (formerly Esat Digifone)
• 087 - Vodafone Ireland (Eircell until 2002; part of state-owned Telecom Éireann until 1997)
• 088 - Digiweb 4G mobile (prefix formerly used between 1985 and July 2001 by Eircell's analogue mobile phone service, using TACS).
• 089 - MVNO Tesco Ireland

Note: Mobile Number Portability has been in operation since the early 2000s. While a new connection to any network will take the prefix above, there is no guarantee that a number with one of those prefixes has remained on that network.

Unused

Defunct

• 03 - Reserved (Formerly used for Great Britain and premium rate services).
• 080 - Formerly used for Northern Ireland Landlines
• 16 - Old international prefix (no longer in use)
• 910 - For operator assisted calls to some areas without direct dialing

Reserved

• 07 - all except 0707, 0700 and 076 are reserved without assigned purpose.
  • 0707 - Reserved for personal numbering.
• 0800 - Reserved (+353 800 is international freefone).

Special numbers

• 00 - International Access.
• 020 91x xxxx - Drama use (although the rest of the 020 area code is free).
• 0700 - Personal Numbering.
• 076 - VoIP services.
• 080 - Mailbox for landline users (Formerly NI access code).
• 0818 - Universal Access (similar to personal numbering).
• 10 - Operator
• 112 - Emergency Services (The older 999 and American 911 also works)
• 114 - International Operator
• 118xx - Directory Enquiries
• 1191 - Speaking Clock
• 13xx - Carrier preselection (Third party long distance, international and internet services)
• 141 - Caller ID withheld
• 142 - Caller ID present

Special charge services prefixes

• 15xx - Premium Rate
• 1800 - Freephone (Saorghlao)
• 1850 - CallSave (Glao sábhála) (per call charge)
• 1890 - Lo Call (Lóghlao) (local rate access)
• 1891 - Low Cost Internet Access
• 1892 - Local rate Internet Access
• 1893 - Variable Cost Internet Access

External links

• Irish Telecoms.com - Guide to Telecoms in Ireland
• Comreg homepage
• Comreg:Geographic Numbering Areas (pdf)