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CaGreg

While in the chat room latelya few people have mentioned to me that they will be coming to Ireland this year or next year. and one of the concerns that is often mention (apart from the weather) is driving in Ireland.

Now to my mind driving in Ireland is not that different to driving anyplace else, but I live here and I'm used to it, so I thought that maybe I would start the ball rolling to see what people might like to suggest to make it a pleasant experience for people.

Firstly, of course, we drive on the same side as the UK which helps a lot.
Our road network has improved hugely over the last ten years, but that is a work in progress, and that must be taken into account.

Most of our motorways are dual carriages, and while that might seem strange to some, it's the way it is and on we go. Motorways are M roads with a speed limit of 120kmh. There are not a lot of them and sometimes they merge with dual carriage ways to become N roads with a speed limit of 100kmh.

We also have dual carriage ways, N roads as mentioned above, these can have traffic lights, roundabouts, traffic controlled roundabouts, onand off ramps etc on them. They are usually good quality roads too.
N road (N designating National Primary Routes) are not always dual carriage ways, but can also be single carriage ways. The quality of these roads can vary, and occasionally it is mind boggling to be on what is an N road with a 100kmh speed limit, again it's the way it is and on we go.

Then we have R roads (Regional). This actually makes up a lot of our country's road network. These are always single carriage way and have a speed limit of 80kmh. They can vary in quality from a road as good as an N road to a narrow country lane. Remember on these and the N roads, the speed limit is not a target, seriously needs to be remembered. Ireland has a very vast road network due to the rural nature of the country.

We do have a penalty point system here, and enforcement is improving, though not as strict as say, Scandanavia or Germany.

Now, for those of you who are going to arrive into Dublin. The M50 needs a chapter to itself.
This is Dublin't orbital route. Theoretically, it works well but in reality there are many things that need to be said about it.
It needs to be avoided ALTOGETHER between 6am and about 10am and between 3pm and 7pm. If you need to drive around Dublin. Some days it has be be avoided altogether and traffic information about it can be heard on the National radio RTE One FM 88.9 from 5 .30am to 9.00am It features regulargly on national news (Not kidding)

However when it works it's good, but this year they are adding a third lane to it which means there are very major works going on that look worse than they are. I have used it all this week to go to G while he was in hospital and had no problems at all with it. I travelled about 10am and again at about 8pm.

The routes out of Dublin are M1 heading to North and North East,
M2 which heads North towards Derry etc. N3 to Cavan etc. M/N4 which heads west toward Galway, Mayo Sligo etc. M/N11 goes south east to Wicklow, Wexford, N7 to Limerick, and so on. All these can be accessed from the M50.
I know someone will come on here and saym 'never go on the M50' but I disagree and I use if frequently.
We do not have motorway service points, but with one or two exceptions it is easy to get off a road and go into a town or village. We should have these of course but suffice it to say that the Irish didn't invent the idea of infrastructure.
During late May, June, July and August, the Cork and Kerry regions are very busy, particularly the Ring of Kerry.

Now I'll leave this to others to put in their bits as my relations have arrived and the kettle needs to go on.

Ca

Broom

Hi Ca

Many thanks for the report, will be in Cavan August and September 08 fishing next May 09 we are doing the lot.

Best regards
Broom

sallytrafic · Campsite DB Admin

Just to agree with Ca. I have never found any difficulty with the roads there. Approach blind bends as you should but you are more likely to find a pothole or livestock rather than an approaching vehicle.