are dogs allowed to travel to N Ireland and Eire

Hi Jimmy,

Welcome to the Craic! We are having that very same dilemma at the moment, we know that Europe-wide the laws have changed since 1st January. We are taking the dog to England this summer on holidays and we inquired with our vet about a pet passport. He said he didn't know anyone who had to get one for Ireland-England or the other way. But on the otherhand we have some friends involved in the dog shows and they have heard of people getting stopped . We had asked the vet could we have one minus the rabies shot and he said no. Here is the official line from the UK's DEFRA website:

Under the EU pet movement system, all pet dogs, cats and ferrets moving between EU Member States must meet the same animal health rules. From 1January 2012 the requirement is that all pets travelling from the Republic of Ireland to the UK should be microchipped, vaccinated against rabies and accompanied by a pet passport.

As both the Republic of Ireland and the UK have had no indigenous rabies for many decades, compliance checks on pets travelling between the two countries will not be applied. Pet owners travelling with their pets should therefore not experience any change on the ground from the 1 January.

So there you go. I am thinking myself of just ring the Dept of Agri and Irish Ferries and seeing what they say!

you should have no problem, though the dog must stay in the camper for the ferry crossing unless it is a guide dog. there are some other differences here regarding dogs as well, no dogs on public transport or in shops etc unless of course guide dogs. We were over for Hogmany with no issue.
PM me if you want any more info. There is a £500 all inclusive open return fare for a motorhome and 2 available for the Dalriada Festival in July including 10 nights camping might be of interest, some of your fellow countrymen are coming over for that event.

ok many thanks all roll on august now
jimmyt