Registration 

Cars and Driving

Health

Telephones
Eircom Ireland's former national telephone company still has the lion's share of the telco market, however Esat (owned by BT) and a number of other smaller operators including MCI Worldcom are also available. Cable services are offerered by NTL and Chorus.

Internet Connection

Free Internet connection services are available to home users from numerous providers; Eircom, Esat and Oceanfree included.  Broadband is still not available, and progress in this area is effectively at a standstill although at time of writing ADSL is being trialled in the parts of Dublin and in Ennis.

Mobile Phones

There are three mobile network operators: Esat Digifone (086), Eircell (087 & 088) and Meteor (085) which launched in February 2001.  You can find information on the packages available from either at retailer Cellular World; you can also buy phones online at this site.  

Documents needed to buy a mobile phone (applies to foreign nationals who have been in Ireland for less than one year):

Western Cellular

• A letter from your employer must be forwarded and will be verified
• Passport/driving license (Irish or Foreign)
• Utility bill dated within the last 3 months to prove current address
• Proof of Bank Account if paying by Direct Debit (some retailers accept a letter from your employer instead of this)
• Proof of entry into Ireland required.
• If the applicant has no contact telephone number a prepayment of £200 is required per SIM (subscriber indentity module) i.e. number.

Carphone Warehouse

• Utility bill dated within the last 3 months to prove current address
• Proof of Irish bank account.  Alternatively, if you do not have an Irish bank account, you would need to provide a letter from your Irish employer to state that you are in full time employment and will be in the future working with that particular company.

It is, however, possible to get around all that by buying one of the pre paid packages e.g. Speakeasy from Esat Digifone.

Opening a Bank Account
The two largest banks are AIB Bank, and Bank of Ireland.  There's also Ulster Bank, ACC, TSB, EBS Building Society and various credit unions.

To open a bank account with AIB, you should have a photographic ID (passport or driver's license), and either a letter from your employer or a household bill with your name and address to confirm residency.  Bank of Ireland requires the photographic ID and the household bill so it is probably safest to bring all three items with you if possible; your ID, letter from your employer, and household bill confirming an address.