With recent changes allowing borders to open between England and Ireland, naturally, we have received many enquiries about meeting all requirements for travel for long anticipated trips to see family and friends. In this article, we wanted to give some clarity to those planning visits to Ireland, and in particular, what tests, documents and quarantining periods are needed to do so.

For those travelling to both the Republic and Northern Ireland, It is advised to gather two things for each way of your journey; a completed Passenger Locator Form and a negative PCR test taken no more than 72 hours prior to arrival. Many clients have and have not been asked to show these on departure, so personally, we advise contacting your flight provider, to ensure that all bases are covered before your trip.

For ease, we have included below a description of what exactly these forms and tests are, and also contact links to Ireland's main airline providers, as we know all too well how easy it is to be misinformed and confused by what is required at the moment.

For all travelling, it is crucial for Passenger Locator Form to be filled in within 48 hours of arriving to Ireland or back to England, and it will be needed before boarding your plane or ferry. It is free to complete, can be done online and may be used to contact you in the following 14 days to verify your details, to provide you with public health advice and for the purposes of contact tracing in relation to confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19.

• To complete a Passenger Locator Form for arrival in Ireland, please click here.
• To complete a Passenger Locator Form for arrival to England, please click here.

There are a couple of things you need to know regarding tests as both types are very different, in both price, location of test and the amount of detail in results. Lateral flow tests are those frequently being completed at home, free and test simply for contagiousness of COVID-19. PCR tests, on the other hand, give more detailed results, incur a cost of a passenger's own expense and are completed only through a COVID-19 testing provider.

The type of test you will most likely need to provide is a PCR test, specifically a negative result for an RT-PCR test for arrival in Ireland and a negative result for a PT-PCR for arrival back to England. It's important that these tests are completed no less than 72 hours before arrival.

To view a list of providers, based in England that offer PCR tests for arrival in Ireland, please click here.

To book a PCR test in Ireland for arrival in England.

Please click here.

It's also important to bear in mind that all travellers arriving from England to Ireland will be asked to complete a mandatory quarantine at home for 14 days, by law. Passengers are also requested by the Irish Government to complete a second RT-PCR test which will be free of charge, either by booking through the Irish Government website or with their local walk in HSE test centre. If fully vaccinated, passengers are able to take this test on day 5 of their quarantine period and complete their period if the result. However, if the individual is not fully vaccinated, they will need to complete the test on day 10 and still quarantine until day 14, providing they are symptomless.

When returning to England, no travellers will need to complete a quarantine period if the test taken 72 hours before their flight is negative, as Ireland is still currently categorised as 'green', however, everyone will need to book a PCR test, on or before, the second day after arrival, at their own expense.

We hope that this gives a little more clarity on the process and peace of mind to those travelling. However, please know that this is our personal guidance and for more information on requirements for individual flights, please contact your provider, for ease we have included help page links to Ireland's main travel companies below.

Suggested travel companies:

Ryanair - www.help.ryanair.com

Aerlingus - www.aerlingus.com/support/contact-us

EasyJet - www.easyjet.com/en/help/contact 

Stena Line - www.stenaline.co.uk/customer-services 

Irish Ferries - www.irishferries.com/uk-en/contact-us

Other related links you may find useful:

Passport Service Updates Page - www.dfa.ie/passportonline  
General information regarding passport applications - www.dfa.ie/passports/questions
General information regarding Foreign Birth Registrations - www.dfa.ie/citizenship/born-abroad/registering-a-foreign-birth

Welcome to another Birmingham Irish Association news update

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