Quarantine Restrictions for Fully Vaccinated Travelers

Good day, my wife and I are from the US and have recently completed our COVID-19 vaccine treatments. We are thinking about making a visit in May or June. Is anyone aware of plans to ease the quarantine-in-place restrictions for people who are vaccinated and have allowed enough time for the injections to become fully effective?

Hi Michael,

I'm glad to hear that you and your wife are planning a visit to Ireland when the time is right. At the moment, it is difficult to say when restrictions on overseas travel to Ireland will start to ease or what the exact rules for vaccinated individuals will be. Right now, all tourism locations, accommodations, and hospitality are still closed but hopefully, in a few months, things will start to open up again for all of us.

While our airports and ferry ports are currently open, the authorities in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland are currently strongly advising against non-essential overseas travel such as tourism, and all international visitors, including those from the US, are still required to fill in a passenger locator form online before entering the state.

Currently, all passengers arriving on the island of Ireland are required to have a negative/’not detected’ result from a pre-departure COVID-19 PCR test carried out no more than 72 hours prior to arrival even after receiving the vaccine. A 14-day quarantine period must be undertaken, regardless of the result of this test.

Things are starting to improve here in Ireland and some restrictions will be lifted shortly, so hopefully, we can welcome our overseas friends again soon.

Regards,
Eoin

Eoin, thank you for your thoughtful response!

You're very welcome, Michael. Should you ever have any future queries, our community is always happy to help.

Regards,
Eoin

I too have tickets booked direct to Dublin in late June with my my family.  Our traveling party will have 3 adults who are vaccinated and 3 teenagers - 15, 15, and 14 who are not.  Rules on vaccinating children are not likely to change soon.  A 14 day quarantine is a non-starter.  I would imagine that the Irish economy is very dependent on getting tourism up and running this summer.  I have seen the different levels defined, and it looks like, realistically, the level would need to come down from level 5 as it is today to level 2 to make for an effective trip. 

Questions I have:
- Am I correct that things would need to improve to level 2 for effective travel?
- Will there be different rules for countries like the USA where we are rapidly vaccinating, vs other countries?  Will the rest of the EU be prioritized?
- With my children, would a 72 hour prior to departure PCR test be sufficient?
- How would we be able to share our vaccinated status?  Are there partner companies we can work with?
- If I can't travel to Ireland - can I book a separate accompanying booking to another destination that is and only use DUB as a connection?  Or am I required to quarantine in that situation?

I look forward to the day we can travel back to Ireland!

Thank you!

Hi Jeffrey,

Thanks for joining in the thread about your plans to visit.

You would be correct in assuming that a Level 2 situation would be one where things would be as near normal for visitors wishing to travel around the island of Ireland as was the case last summer. We are, however, a long way away from reducing our current level 5 restrictions down to level 2 certainly in time for late June this year.

All passengers arriving on the island of Ireland are required to have a negative/’not detected’ result from a pre-departure COVID-19 PCR test carried out no more than 72 hours prior to arrival even after receiving the vaccine so this has no bearing on visiting currently but please keep an eye on our website travel health page as well as the Irish government's GOV.ie page.

Transiting through Dublin would require the negative PCR test but as long as you are leaving the state directly, you do not need to quarantine. However, you still need to fill in the passenger locator form before arrival if staying more than 24 hours and quarantine or if leaving the state, certain sections only.

The authorities in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland are currently strongly advising against non-essential overseas travel such as tourism and while a big loss to the economy, our top priority is to keep our visitors and our residents safe and well.

As Eoin mentioned, things are improving here on the island of Ireland and we very much look forward to having our many visitors back with us.

Regards,

Martin

Hello,

we are planning to travel to Ireland from France in July, but we are planning to arrive on the 19th when the quarantine is lifted. Is it safe to make all our booking arrangements now ? How sure can I be that the quarantine will be lifted.
Also would I be allowed to book a ferry leaving France on the 18th and arriving on the 19th, first day of the new rules ?
Thank you,

Bonjour Isabel,

From 19 July onwards, Ireland will operate the EU Digital Covid Certificate for travel originating within the EU/EEA. Since the scheme is subject to the prevailing public health situation, I can suggest you to make bookings with flexible cancellation policies. I would also suggest you to get in touch with your ferry company for more information about the sailing dates.

The best place to stay up to date is our traveller health page. You can keep on top of the current situation and recent changes by following helpful links to the governments’ guidelines.

I hope you'll have an unforgettable trip!

Antoine