Vehicle registration plates in Northern Ireland use a modified version of the British
national registration plate system that was initiated for the whole of the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was a sovereign state in the British Isles that existed between 1801 and 1922, when it included all of Ireland. It was established by the Acts of Union 1800, which merged the Kingdom of Great B ...
in 1903. Originally, all counties in the UK were allocated two identification letters. At that time, the whole of Ireland was in the UK, and the letters I and Z were reserved for the Irish counties. The 'I' series was used first, but by the time it came to using the 'Z' series in 1926, the
Irish Free State
The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between th ...
had already come into existence, and so it was agreed that the Northern Ireland would use the AZ – YZ series, while the Free State would use the ZA – ZZ series. In 1987, the Republic of Ireland broke away from the system altogether. As of 2002 there were reportedly 794,477 recorded registration plates in
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
, compared to only 50 for the island as a whole when the format was first introduced in 1903.
The full list of codes used in Northern Ireland appears below.
Format
As in Great Britain, each code originally ran from 1 to 9999, and when one was completed, another was allocated. All possible codes had been allocated by 1957, following which reversed sequences were introduced, the first county to do so being
Antrim in January 1958 with
1 IA
. These reversed sequences were completed quickly, leading to the introduction of the current "
AXX 1234
" format in January 1966, where "
XX
" is the county code and "
A
" is a serial letter. This format allowed capacity to be increased. Each county adopted it once they had completed their reversed sequences, the last one to do so being
County Londonderry
County Londonderry ( Ulster-Scots: ''Coontie Lunnonderrie''), also known as County Derry ( ga, Contae Dhoire), is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the thirty two counties of Ireland and one of the nine counties of Ulster. B ...
in October 1973 with
AIW 1
. From November 1985, the first 100 numbers of each series were withheld for use as cherished registrations. From April 1989, the numbers 101-999 were also withheld in this way. Even multiples of 1000 and 1111 ("four-of-a-kind") are deemed cherished by the DVLA and thus withheld. Each series ends at 9998 and follows on to the next letter/number combination in the series.
International vehicle registration code on the number plates
The distinguishing code for the United Kingdom, including Northern Ireland is "UK".
Prior to 28 September 2021, "GB" was used.
Number plates featuring other codes, such as "NI" or "IRL" (the distinguishing code for Ireland) are unofficial. From October 2021 if an owner of a vehicle wishes to avoid attaching a separate black on white “UK” sticker, it is necessary for the number plates to display “UK” on the left side. If the vehicle is driven in a country not a party to the Vienna Convention, a separate sign (black on white “UK” sticker) also has to be displayed at the rear of the vehicle. Of the EU countries, a separate identifier is only needed when travelling in Cyprus, Malta, and Spain, as they are not party to the convention.
["Ireland is not a party of the Vienna Convention but no separate 'GB' sticker is required.]
Accessed in June 2021
While motorists with vehicles registered in
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
are permitted by the DVLA to use number plates carrying Euro-style bands with UK national flags and country codes (such as ENG, England or SCO), this is not possible in Northern Ireland.
The Road Vehicles (Display of Registration Marks) (Amendment) Regulations 2009 state that ''"Paragraph (4) does not apply—(...) (b)if the relevant vehicle is recorded in the part of the register relating to Northern Ireland."'' Paragraph four reads ''"Subject to paragraphs (5) to (8), there may be displayed on a plate or other device an arrangement of letters corresponding with one of the sub-paragraphs of paragraph (9) and an emblem corresponding with one of the sub-paragraphs of paragraph (10)".''
European Union symbol
When the UK was a member state of the European Union, it was possible to choose to display number plates conforming to the
common EU format introduced by Council Regulation (EC) No 2411/98, with a blue strip on the left side of the plate with the
European Union symbol (circle of stars) above the
international vehicle registration code
The country in which a motor vehicle's vehicle registration plate was issued may be indicated by an international licence plate country code, formerly known as an International Registration Letter or International Circulation Mark. It is ref ...
of the member state (GB).
This format can not be issued after the transition period ended. With Northern Ireland no longer being a part of the EU, the plates with the EU symbol are now no longer issued.
EU member states that require foreign vehicles to display a distinguishing sign of the country of origin are obliged by Article 3 of EU Regulation No. 2411/98 to accept this standard design as a distinguishing sign when displayed on a vehicle registered in another member state, making a separate sign unnecessary for vehicles registered in the EU.
After
Brexit
Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or ...
, other EU countries are no longer required to accept UK "Europlates", as the regulation only requires member states to accept the standard design as a distinguishing sign when displayed on a vehicle registered in another member state. After this, Euro-plates must be replaced by a number plate that features the UK code (GB before 28 September 2021) in order to be valid as a national identifier.
Administration
The
administrative counties of Northern Ireland were abolished by the
Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972
The Local Government (Northern Ireland) Act 1972 (1972 c. 9) was an Act of the Parliament of Northern Ireland that constituted district councils to administer the twenty-six local government districts created by the Local Government (Boundaries) ...
, and their responsibility for issuing registrations was transferred to the
NI Ministry of Home Affairs, and later the
Department of the Environment NI. The former vehicle section in the
county town
In the United Kingdom and Ireland, a county town is the most important town or city in a county. It is usually the location of administrative or judicial functions within a county and the place where the county's members of Parliament are elect ...
of each local authority became a "local office" of the relevant departmental agency, formerly Driver and Vehicle Licensing Northern Ireland and latterly the
Driver and Vehicle Agency (DVA) in
Coleraine
Coleraine ( ; from ga, Cúil Rathain , 'nook of the ferns'Flanaghan, Deirdre & Laurence; ''Irish Place Names'', page 194. Gill & Macmillan, 2002. ) is a town and civil parish near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, Northern I ...
.
From 21 July 2014, vehicle registration in Northern Ireland became the responsibility of the
Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency DVLA in
Swansea
Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe).
The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...
, which also administers the system used in Great Britain. The pre-1972 format of Northern Ireland registration plates continues unchanged in Northern Ireland. When the current system is exhausted the format will be swapped so NNNN LLL for example 1232 AIL.
County codes in alphabetical order
All the codes from
IA
to
IZ
, and from
AI
to
WI
(except for those containing G, Q, S and V, plus
II
), were
allocated throughout the island of Ireland in 1903, in alphabetical order of counties and then of county boroughs. Hence, Antrim was allocated
IA
and Armagh
IB
, while
County Dublin
"Action to match our speech"
, image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Dublin.svg
, map_alt = map showing County Dublin as a small area of darker green on the east coast within the lighter green background of ...
, now in the Republic of Ireland, was allocated
IK
, in between
IJ
for Down and
IL
for Fermanagh. Shortly before the
partition of Ireland
The partition of Ireland ( ga, críochdheighilt na hÉireann) was the process by which the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland divided Ireland into two self-governing polities: Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland. I ...
in 1922, Belfast completed
OI
and was thus allocated the next available code,
XI
, while
YI
and then
ZI
were allocated to
Dublin City. After the partition, all codes with Z as the first letter (
ZA
,
ZB
etc.) were allocated in the Republic of Ireland, while all codes with Z as the second letter (
AZ
,
BZ
etc.) were allocated in Northern Ireland with the exception of County Mayo which had originally been allocated IZ.
Series per administrative county / DVA licensing local office
For each DVA licensing local office
(administrative county before 1974) the two-letter sequences are shown first, followed by the reversed two-letter sequences, then the three-letter sequences.
Current issue per administrative county / DVA licensing local office
The current three-letter sequence issued by each DVA licensing local office:
(Updated: August 2023)
Three-letter sequences not issued
The following sequences were deemed inappropriate and will never be issued:
The following sequences were never issued:
See also
*
Vehicle registration plates of the United Kingdom
*
Vehicle registration plates of the Republic of Ireland
In the Republic of Ireland, commonly referred to as Ireland, vehicle registration plates (commonly known as "number plates" or "reg plates") are the visual indications of motor vehicle registration – officially termed "index marks" – which it h ...
Notes
References
;Citations
;Sources
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vehicle Registration Plates Of The United Kingdom
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
Road transport in Northern Ireland