Telephone numbers in the Republic of Ireland

Ireland telephone numbers

Location of Ireland (dark green)
Location
Country Ireland
Continent Europe
Regulator ComReg
Type Open
NSN length 7-9
Typical format (0xx) xxx xxxx
Access codes
Country calling code +353
International call prefix 00
Trunk prefix 0
List of Ireland dialing codes

Numbers on the Irish Telephone Numbering Plan are regulated and assigned to operators by ComReg.

Overview and history

Telephone numbers in Ireland are similar in format to those in many European open numbering plans, for example the UK or Germany with only the subscriber's number being required for local dialling. However, it is also possible to dial local calls with the full area code without any difference in charge. The trunk prefix is '0' followed by an area code, the first digit of which indicates the geographical area. Calls made from mobile phones, however, always require the full area code and phone number.

General structure of Irish numbering

Irish area codes vary in length, between one and three digits (excluding the leading 0), and subscribers' numbers are between five and seven digits. A migration to a standard format, (0xx) xxx xxxx, is in progress; however, to avoid disruption, this process is only being carried out as needed where existing area codes and local numbering systems have reached full capacity.

Geographically assigned

Irish geographical area structured on a regional basis and follow a logical hierarchy of regions and sub-regions. These area codes approximately correspond to the following geographical regions : 01 - Greater Dublin, 02 - South (Cork), 04 (North East), 05 (South East) 06 (Midwest/Southwest), 07 (Northwest), 09 (West). The midlands area is covered by several regional codes.

NB: Codes do not necessarily match county or provincial boundaries as they evolved to suit technical requirements of the network as it evolved over the decades.

Except for the 01 area, all others are further subdivided into smaller areas. Normally, the main city or town in the area is 0X1. (Cork 021, Limerick 061, Galway 091 etc.)

Regional overview

List of major area codes by city/town

ComReg maintains a map of area codes here.

Mobile services

Mobile phones use the prefixes 083, 085, 086, 087 and 089. 088 was previously issued to the Eircell analogue service. This has subsequently been issued to Digiweb. Irish mobile telephone numbering is part of a closed numbering plan. This means that you must dial a full 10-digit number. Local dialling without an area code is not possible from a mobile phone. Numbers are fully portable between networks, meaning that you cannot reliably identify a network based on its prefix. However, newly issued numbers are currently allocated on 083 for 3, 085 for Meteor and eMobile, 087 for Vodafone and 089 for Tesco, Lycamobile, 48 and future MVNOs. With the rebranding of O2 retail stores to 3 in early 2015, new customers are issued with numbers under the 083 prefix.

Note: Mobile number portability has been in operation since 2003. 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. In addition, a given network is not guaranteed to receive all of their prefix block. The numbers in each prefix are allocated in blocks of several thousand to the networks, as they require them, thus ComReg could in theory, allocate 083 numbers to Vodafone.

Direct to mobile voicemail

Every Irish mobile number has a corresponding voicemail box number. This is formed by prefixing the last 7-digits of the mobile number with the digit 5 E.g. to call the voicemail box associated with mobile number 085 XXX XXXX you would dial 085 5 XXX XXXX

Calls to Northern Ireland

Although Northern Ireland is part of the UK (+44) numbering plan, a special arrangement exists for calling Northern Ireland landlines from the Republic of Ireland. Calls to Northern Ireland can be dialled using the 048 prefix or by dialling the number in the full international format. Most Irish operators treat calls to Northern Ireland at national or even local rates. Similar charging arrangements apply when calling the Republic of Ireland from Northern Ireland.

For example, to reach Belfast landline 90xx xxxx subscribers can dial either:

048 90xx xxxx

or

00 44 28 90xx xxxx

Northern Irish mobile phones use the same mobile numbering and networks as other parts of the UK — calls must be dialled using the 00 44 7xxx xxx xxx format.

International calls

In common with all EU countries, the international access code is 00. Call should be dialled as follows:

00 Country Code Area code (if any) - local number

Mobile phones may also use + instead of the 00 international access code.

Reserved numbers

Special numbers

Operator services

General operator assistance no longer exists in Ireland.

Emergency services

Emergency services in Ireland can be called by dialling 112 or 999. Use either of these numbers to contact:

- Ambulance
- Garda (Police)
- Fire and Rescue
- Marine and Coastal Emergency Service
- Cliff and Mountain Rescue

The operator will have access to your caller ID and possibly location. However, you should be prepared to give as much information about your location (such as street names and landmarks) as possible to ensure accuracy.

Deaf or hard of hearing customers can send an SMS message to 112. To use the service, you must first register by sending a message containing the word "REGISTER" to 112. In an emergency send a text as follows:
Which? Say which Emergency Service is needed: Ambulance, Coast guard, Fire brigade, or Police (Garda Síochána)
What? Say what the problem is.
County? Say which county you are sending the text from.
Where? Say where is the assistance needed. Give the name of the town and road if possible.
Include any extra information possible: House number or nearby landmarks, road junctions or main roads.

The SMS text message might read:
'Ambulance. Man having a heart attack. Meath. Outside Post office in Navan’

Be as clear as possible when saying where the help is needed. The emergency services will be able to send help to you quicker when they know where help is needed. If you do not receive a response within 3 minutes, send another SMS.[8]

Special rate numbers

NB: *it is no longer possible to define what 'local rate' or 'national rate' are due to the wide variety of call plans and operators available. Also, the majority of operators exclude non-geographic numbers from call bundles. This can mean that calls to these numbers are billed separately to inclusive minutes which can lead to high charges. **VoIP 076 may be charged differently from geographic numbers by some operators.

Internet access numbers

Carrier selection (per call)

Carrier preselect is normally used where the exchange automatically uses the customer's preferred provider(s).

Network engineering codes

Speaking clock

Line information codes

These services give you more information about your phone line (applicable only to eir and Smart Telecom).

Check phone number associated with line / automatic number announcement circuit (ANAC)

Check preset carrier

Check which carrier you are using for each category of call:

Voicemail

Call management services vertical service codes

Vertical service code are used to control various supplementary services offered by digital local exchanges. These services were first introduced as 'PhonePlus' in 1979 on the first generation of Alcatel E10 and Ericsson AXE digital exchanges used in Ireland and were rolled out nationally throughout the 1980s. These services are available on all Irish PSTN lines, regardless of operator. There is a more expansive range of services available, but these are the most commonly used. Different codes apply on cable telephony lines, such as those provided by Virgin Media Ireland and on VoIP providers.

PSTN Lines and some ISDN services

Caller ID Services

Call waiting

Answering call waiting

Conference calling / 3-way calling

Call hold / transfer to another extension

Call forwarding (Unconditional)

When this service is active, the dial tone changes to a two-frequency 'siren' tone.

Alarm / reminder call

Most exchanges confirm setup with a verbal announcement, however some exchanges may use a ringing tone to indicate successful service setup and a busy tone to indicate an error / invalid code.

Services on Virgin Media Ireland cable network

Caller ID services

Call forwarding

Call forwarding (unconditional)
Forwarding to voicemail

Call waiting

Answering call waiting

Anonymous call rejection

Redial last number called

You will either hear a tone or a voice message to confirm services have been set up or deactivated.

Mobiles

Number changes

Several major number changes have occurred since 2000.

2002–2003

The majority of Area codes in County Donegal were combined into a single area code (074) with 7-digit local numbering. While other parts of South Donegal were combined into the (071) area code (e.g. Bundoran, Rossnowlagh) [9] The area abolished changed were 073, 075 and 077. All local numbers became 7-digit.

Area codes in Sligo and North Leitrim were merged into the single area code 071 with 7-digit local numbering. The area codes abolished were 072, 078 and 079. All local numbers became 7-digit.

Area codes in parts of Galway and Mayo were merged into a single 094 area including Castlebar, Swinford, Claremorris, Ballaghadereen, Castlerae and Ballinrobe The area codes abolished were 0907 and 092. All local numbers became 7-digit.

A new area code 090 replaced four codes in the West Midlands including Athlone, Banagher North, Ballinasloe, Roscommon and Portumna. The area codes abolished were 0902, 0903, 0905 and 0509 All local numbers became 7-digit.

Area codes in the East Midlands were merged into the single 046 area code including Navan, Nobber, Kells, Trim, Enfield and Edenderry. The area 0405 area code was abolished. All local numbers became 7-digit.

In 2006–2007

Local numbering changed from 5-digit to 7-digit local in the following area (without area code change). 044 Mullingar numbers were prefixed by 93 and Tyrrellspass numbers were prefixed by 92 and Costlepollard numbers were prefixed by 96.

Numbers in Portlaoise, Birr and Tullamore were merged into a new 057 area code. The area codes abolished were 0502, 0506 and 0509'. All local numbers became 7-digit.

Area codes in the southeast were merged into the single 053 area code including Wexford, Enniscorthy and Gorey. The area codes abolished were 054, 055. All local numbers became 7-digit.

In 2009–2010

Local numbering changed from 5-digit to 7-digit local in the following areas (without area code change). 023 Bandon numbers beginning with 2,3,4,5,7 and 8 were prefixed by 88 while numbers beginning with 6 were prefixed by 66. '043 Longford numbers were prefixed by 33 and Granard numbers were prefixed by 66. 052 Clonmel numbers were prefixed by 61, Cahir numbers were prefixed by 74 and Killenaule numbers were prefixed by 91. 064 Killarney numbers were prefixed by 66 and Rathmore numbers were prefixed by 77.

Older changes

Dublin 01 was changed to 7-digit number in 1994.
Mobile numbering became 7-digit in the mid-1990s
Cork 021 was changed to 7-digit numbers in 1998-1999.
The 066 area code including Tralee and Dingle was moved to 7-digit numbering in 2000.
The 080 prefix was previously used for calls to Northern Ireland, but following the UK's renumbering of Northern Ireland in 2000, this changed to 048.

Possible future changes

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. A review and public consultation on the future of Ireland's numbering plan was undertaken.[10]

Historical numbering (no longer in use)

Defunct access codes

Defunct operator services

Historical codes to access Northern Ireland

Example Belfast (01232) xxx xxx was reached by dialling: 08 01232 xxx xxx

Previously Belfast could be reached by dialling 084 in place of the UK area code 0232

Historical codes to access British numbers

Until the early 1990s, the 03 numbering range was originally used for calls to Great Britain, with the Irish prefix 030 replacing the UK trunk code 0. Calls to British cities using the Director telephone system were also possible using shorter codes:

This was discontinued in 1992, when the international access code changed from 16 to 00, and calls to Great Britain required the country code 44 and the area code in full.

For a short period in the early 1990s, 03000 was used for premium rate services (see below)

See also

References

  1. ↑ O2 is now 3
  2. ↑ Digiweb Mobile takes 088, Press Release (05/04/2007)
  3. ↑ Irish Examiner "After 16 years it's almost all over for Eircell's analogue network" (10/05/2001)
  4. ↑ o2.com "O2 UK and Tesco Mobile joint-venture"
  5. 1 2 http://www.comreg.ie/numbering/numbering_search.599.numbering.html
  6. ↑ http://www.siliconrepublic.com/comms/item/37097-upc-signs-mvno-deal-with-th
  7. ↑ http://www.siliconrepublic.com/comms/item/37508-carphone-warehouse-to-enter/
  8. ↑ https://www.112.ie/Sending_a_text_to_112/144#.Uw_pxty0FdZ
  9. ↑ http://www.comreg.ie/licensing_and_services/area_code_maps.552.1040.html
  10. ↑ The Evolution of Geographic Telephone Numbering in Ireland, ComReg, 19th December 2013
  11. 1 2 Festivals in Great Britain, Northern Ireland & Eire: A List with Forecast Dates and Policies, Richard Gregson-Williams, John Offord Publications, 1986, page 108

External links

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