06 Jan 2021
Posted by Lauren Beehan 
Updated Jan 26th 2021
Ireland remains in Level 5 measures to slow the spread of Covid-19, so travel restrictions will remain in place until at least Friday 5th March.
Here’s a round-up of all our information about travelling (or not) during this time.
What travel is permitted, and what is restricted under the current measures?
The main advice, once again, is to avoid all non-essential travel, and stay at home as much as possible. People should only travel beyond 5km from home for work, education or other essential purposes – see below. You should work from home unless providing an essential service.
You should stay within 5km of your home for outdoor exercise.
What counts as an essential journey under Level 5?
The government restrictions specify the types of travel classed as essential. These are journeys:
- to and from work, where work involves providing an essential service
- to attend medical appointments and collect medicines and other health products
- to attend disability day services
- to attend a court sitting
- for food shopping
- for vital family reasons, such as providing care to children, elderly or vulnerable people, and in particular for those who live alone, but excluding social family visits
- for farming purposes, that is food production or care of animals
- to attend a wedding or funeral
- to visit a grave
Travel to and from educational facilities will also be considered essential when school buildings have reopened.
All other travel should be avoided, with the exception of exercising within 5km of home.
How is public transport affected?
Public transport is operating at 25% capacity for essential journeys only & the government advises you to walk or cycle instead, where possible. Most operators are currently running revised schedules during the Level 5 restrictions. We’re keeping a live list of the latest changes to public transport over on the AA Roadwatch Newsroom, and it’s also worth checking with the provider before you set out.
If you do have to take public transport, you must wear a face covering and you should pay with contactless means where possible. However, you should not take public transport if you are travelling to attend a covid-19 test appointment.
If I am making an essential journey, what else do I need to know?
Keep an eye on the AA Roadwatch Newsroom, where we’ll be reporting any possible disruption to your route (ie. collisions, road closures and any further changes to public transport). We also have a list of major roadworks that may affect your journey.
Be extra aware of other road users: pedestrians and cyclists may need to travel further out from the side of the road to allow the 2m safe distance between them. This is particularly important to watch out for if you’re driving.
If your journey is to attend a covid-19 test centre and you’re stopped at a Garda checkpoint, do not open your car window – hold your appointment letter up to the window instead.
And while the last thing you need if you’re driving is a breakdown or a puncture, we have advice on how to deal with these too: see our posts on how to change a tyre, and how to deal with a breakdown on a motorway.
What about international travel?
Again, you should not travel beyond 5km from your home, other than for the essential reasons listed above, and this includes international travel. Even for essential journeys, bear in mind that many countries have entry restrictions for those coming from Ireland and you may need to allow for quarantining time on arrival.
Anyone arriving into Ireland from overseas must now present a negative/”not detected” PCR result for Covid-19, taken up to 72 hours before travel. They must still restrict their movements (quarantine at home) for 14 days unless they have come from “green” or “orange” regions in the EU ‘traffic light’ system. For red or grey zones, this may be lifted if they get a second “not detected” PCR result at least five days after arrival. This second test option does not apply to those who have come from Great Britain, South Africa or anywhere in South America, who should self isolate completely for 14 days on arrival. For those arriving from South Africa or Brazil, a mandatory 14-day quarantine at designated facility is being put in place.
Following the mandatory quarantine period, all domestic travel restrictions then apply.
I’m staying at home or travelling less; is there anything I need to do with my vehicle?
It’s worth keeping up your car maintenance while you’re staying at home to avoid any nasty surprises when the time finally comes to move it again – see our tips on things you can do to maintain an idle vehicle. If your bike is temporarily off the road, we also have some tips about bike security at home.
If you have a car parked up at home for a while, make sure you’ve parked in a safe spot that isn’t obstructing any road users. With more vehicles parked in housing estates and residential streets, please also check if you’ve left enough space for ambulances or fire trucks to pass by in a hurry – if cars are parked on both sides of the road, the space between them may not be sufficient. You can find out more on this in our blog post about safe parking.
As always, we’ll have updates on restrictions, public transport and traffic disruption at http://www.TheAA.ie/Newsroom
