Vehicle registration plates of the Republic of Ireland Vehicle registration plates of the Republic of Ireland In the Republic of Ireland, vehicle registration plates (commonly known as "number plates") are the visual indications of motor vehicle registration – officially termed "index marks" – which it has been mandatory since 1903 to display on most motor vehicles used on public roads in Ireland. The alphanumeric marks (or "registration numbers") themselves were issued by the local authority in which a vehicle is first registered. The current specification for number plates is the format YYY–CC–SSSSSS. Those issued from 1987 to 2012 had the format YY–CC–SSSSSS. The components are: Since 1991, the
Vehicle registration plates of the Republic of Ireland 08-D-1 on his official vehicle. There are only two pre-1987 codes still issued in Ireland. Imported used cars are registered based on year of first registration in their country of original registration rather than year of import. Each county had continuous sequence numbers for vehicles so if a new car registered on 31 December 2010 was 10 D 37456, then the next registered car from 2010 registered in 2011 would be 10 D 37457. This changed in late 2011 when each county (prior to 2010) had their next available sequence number increased dramatically for no particular reason other than being