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 Isle of Man This was reversed in July 1985, giving 1000-MAN to 9999-MAN, which lasted until August 1987. At that point, the current system was introduced, which has an initial letter, followed by MN, up to three numerals, and a trailing single letter. The initial plate in this system was therefore BMN-1-A, with the registration CMN-1-A being issued following BMN-999-Y. Thus the trailing letter does not indicate the vehicle age, unlike the similar format British plates, and many different suffix letters are issued each year. The letters A, I, O, Q, S and Z are not used on Manx number plates. The Isle