Irish car registration plates - who hates or loves them?

Juran · 07-07-2022 04:17PM #1

I'll start with saying I hate them.

Hate how you are drawn to the car age before you notice the model.

Hate that you can't change the number if you buy an out of county 2nd hand car (should you wish to change).

I don't like how a Cork or Longford reg doesnt mean you are from Cork or Longford. If you are driving abroad and you see an Irish reg car, the plate doesnt reflect current owner county in 80% of the cases (i made up that statistic). But you know what I mean.

Dravokivich · 07-07-2022 04:41PM

I've never really thought about it. My current car has a Galway reg and a previous car I've owned had a Kildare reg. It's essentially just an asset tag that's easier to read and remember than the VIN. It has no real bearing on the vehicle at all.

[Steve] · 07-07-2022 05:10PM

Not too bothered about the reg system - if anything the year is more a 'keeping up' thing for those who need to be seen as better off than neighbours, etc.

If I had any preference at all it would be to aim for either W or D as the county, or most other single letter counties.

mickdw · 07-07-2022 05:24PM

I like it in that the year, county then serial makes it relatively easy to remember.

I don't like the split year since 131 and I think since the 20s came in those split year plates are downright confusing.

201

202

211

212

221

222

It doesn't jump.out at you like it should and therefore makes it quite difficult to remember a reg in case of emergency etc.

Montage of Feck · 07-07-2022 05:32PM

It just looks odd having three digits for the year on plates with a reg number less than 100.

Gadgetman496 · 07-07-2022 05:32PM

I loved the simplicty of the new plate system when it was first introduced, year, county & sequence number registered. I don't think many other countries had anything that straight forward?

I absolutely hate them since the motor industry forced the Government to allow them to split up the year into two halves. That was the greatest con they ever pulled off and caused a very simple identification system to be screwed up. i.e 19-D-456 became 191 or 192-D-***. I seriously believe it was simply a brain washing exercise so the garages could have two bumper seasons in the one year. Then of course you have the look at me, my car is 222 and your old yoke is 221...

Personally, the split year thing has no baring whatsoever on my decission making when it comes to buying a secondhand veichle.

Gadgetman496 · 07-07-2022 05:57PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119305078#Comment_119305078

Speaking of single letter counties, I've asked this question many times but never really go a satisfactory answer. I'll ask here in case someone actually knows.

Why is Sligo "SO" when there is no other county beginning with S in the the republic? That would be like having "GY" for a Galway Reg.

Atlantic Dawn · 07-07-2022 06:08PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119305272#Comment_119305272

Originally the single letter counties were only to be used for counties which were also cities so Cork, Dublin, Galway, Limerick, Waterford.

Tipperary was originally TN and TS depending if it was north or south region/council, it's now T which is the exception as it's not a city. Kilkenny seems to be a city and then not a city but was not a city when the plates came out in 1987.

Wishbone Ash · 07-07-2022 06:55PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119305182#Comment_119305182

It had nothing to do with having two bumper seasons. It was to spread the sales over a longer period to help with obtaining stock and to provide a more stable working year for staff in the motor industry. I doubt that it made any difference to actual sales. It they increased, they may have increased anyway regardless to 2 plates.

Atlantic Dawn · 07-07-2022 06:58PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119305503#Comment_119305503

There was some mention of the 13 being unlucky too by our friend in Kerry 😂...

https://www.thejournal.ie/number-13-licence-plates-michael-healy-rae-571256-Aug2012/

bmc58 · 07-07-2022 07:05PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058253514/irish-car-registration-plates-who-hates-or-loves-them

Doesn't bother me at all.I do a nice bit of driving to my daughters in Cork and Kerry with my wife and she often says " wheres that car from?Reg could be MO,G,LT etc and I'd tell her the county.She'd say there a long way from home.Then I'd explain to her the person driving could be from Cork or Kerry.The reg only means where the car was registered first.That's our system and it's here to stay.I also like the dates on the car plates.

bmc58 · 07-07-2022 07:12PM

Don't like the split year gimmic myself.It was only a a sales rouse thought up by motor dealers and ably abetted by the government to boost sales after mid year when sales slow down.Salesman told me eg, 211,212 mean the same thing.Car has no extra value with a 212 plate.It's still classed the same as a 211 car.One year old.

bmc58 · 07-07-2022 07:14PM

That's a very good question.Some civil servent probably has an answer somewhere.

WishUWereHere · 07-07-2022 07:21PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119305593#Comment_119305593

But why, if it isn’t broken, would you want to fix it? Personally I have no problem with the way the plates are.

spacetweek · 07-07-2022 07:24PM

I really like the system, so i can tell at a glance how old a car is. I don't care about the county but sometimes that can let you spot an out-of-towner.

The year is also handy for other obscure stuff - e.g. if the year is before 05 then the speedo will be miles per hour.

WishUWereHere · 07-07-2022 07:58PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119305629#Comment_119305629

I’m not going to get into an argument with you. I personally have no problem with the way they are. What’s wrong with having a county on the number plate?

Im also ok with buying a 2nd hand car and knowing the year it was put on the road.

Anyhow, that’s my tuppence worth. Cheers.

User1998 · 07-07-2022 08:07PM

I much rather the plates in the UK. Seeing private plates worth hundreds of thousands fitted to super cars is something you’d never see here.

It wouldn’t interest most people but as a car person its really cool to see

Juran · 07-07-2022 08:27PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119305272#Comment_119305272

Good question ... and thanks A. DAWN for explaining !

Wishbone Ash · 07-07-2022 09:25PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119305826#Comment_119305826

Not all 'car' people are into personalised plates. Some of us think they are just tacky. I'd much rather see a super car with a normal non-descript plate.

Sir Galahad · 07-07-2022 09:44PM

What about the way Irish people get illegal plates made up. . . . . . colours . . . . fonts . . . . .car brands . . . . . ? If you got caught doing it in Europe you'd be nailed up on a cross.

Juran · 07-07-2022 09:47PM

Not as many now, but back in the late 90's and 2000's, plates around my home town were nearly all customized for anyone under 30 years old.

Donegal folk love their customized plates

cml387 · 08-07-2022 09:28AM

I saw a comment once that a long series of numbers (esp D plates) are more difficult to memorise than a series of letters and numbers like UK plates, and hence more difficult for the Gardai to recall.

I suppose since ANPR its doesn't really matter.

hoodie6029 · 08-07-2022 10:09AM

The UK has 30 million vehicles and can identify them with 7 characters. An outsider looking at our system could ask if it was designed in a competition for 12 year olds.

Why is the county on the plate? It hasn’t been relevant since the 70’s when Road Tax paid to the County Council was abolished.

Why do we need 3 digits to identify a 2 digit year?

micah537 · 08-07-2022 10:46AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119305318#Comment_119305318

Limerick had both L and LK if I remember correctly. Do you know why? Considering Cork and Galway are bigger counties and Cork also having a bigger city, it didn't seem to make much since to have a limerick city plate and limerick County plate.

Dravokivich · 08-07-2022 11:23AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119307863#Comment_119307863

It was to do with the council the registration was done with. We've since moved from that, to county.

cml387 · 08-07-2022 11:57AM

The W/WD L/LK etc. was because there was a city tax office and a second one at the other end of the county (Waterford and Limerick both have the administrative capital at the extreme end of the county so for convenience they added another office).

mikemac2 · 08-07-2022 12:02PM

Bring back TN & TS !

Never mind water charges, this was the worst thing Phil Hogan ever did

martingriff · 08-07-2022 12:13PM

That was due to Limerick having a city and council county

Allinall · 08-07-2022 12:14PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119308232#Comment_119308232

No riding in Tipperary any more.

Who would have thought?

Hellrazer · 08-07-2022 12:15PM

They should just drop the first "2" now - and bring it back to just yearly plates. They should also allow customised plates at a cost to the person registering the car - would bring in a bit more revenue. And you could move the plate with you when you buy a new car. The technology is there now that would make this so easy to achieve.

If they still wanted to split the year they could have a small symbol in the corner of the plate denoting whether its the first or second six months of that particular year - another thing quite easily done.

As you can gather Ive always hated the 3 digits at the start of the Irish plates - it just looks off.

mickdw · 08-07-2022 04:06PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119308292#Comment_119308292

What do you mean by drip the first 2?

A small symbol denoting first or 2nd half of year would be neat but it won't happen as it would make the plate change even less important and that wouldn't suit the trade.

Irish car registration plates - who hates or loves them?

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