Getting Irish Driving License

Public transport in Ireland can take you only to cities, however real beauty lies far from maddening crowd. And if you don’t have driver’s license, you will miss out loads of these beautiful places in Ireland.

Process of getting Irish driving license is not easy, but pretty impressive. There are five steps to get the regular Irish license-

Step-1: Pass the theory test

Book your appointment at http://www.theorytest.ie then study the material which is present at the site. To practice the questions and take mock test for free, you can use http://theory-tester.com/. Or you can take some packages available which helps you in studies and mock test — http://www.theorytest.ie/online-test-preparation-resource/ . It will require 2–4 days of focused study to pass the test. Take plenty of mock tests, if you are passing the tests continuously for 5–10 times then you should be ready for your final test. If you fail in mock test, then introspect and revise the difficult category questions.

You get the pass certificate on the same day when you give the test.

Step -2: Go to a near by ndls center, and apply for learners license with all the documents and theory test pass certificate. You can find all the details at https://www.ndls.ie/how-to-apply/learner-permit.html . You can just walk in, no need to take appointment.

Step-3: Take EDT driving course. There are many institute offering this course. I found http://www.easydrive.ie to be one of the cheap one at 299 for all 12 mandatory lessons. Make sure your instructor logs all the lessons in physical log book and online. Logbook will be with you, you can check the logged lessons at Myedt at http://www.rsa.ie/RSA/Learner-Drivers/Driver-Training/Car-Training-EDT/My-EDT/

Step-4: Pay the fee and apply for driving test online at http://www.rsa.ie/en/RSA/Learner-Drivers/The-Driving-Test/ . Normally it has a long queue, so apply in advance based on queue length at the test center you want to apply.

Do watch driving test videos available at youtube and practice a lot. You can also find some popular test routes for your test center by searching online. E.g. Few Churchtown routes are https://sites.google.com/site/churchtowndrivingtestroutes/home

If you don’t have your own car, then before the test, do take pre test lesson of 1–2 hours when your instructor can show you the driving routes and then you can use the same car for the test. My instructor charged 99 euro for this. While in test, keep your calm. Don’t get disturbed when you commit mistakes, just keep going with alertness and calm mind. Few mistakes are allowed. Like, I committed a major mistake according to me and thought I will fail… but I passed in first attempt :)

Step-5: Produce your driving test certificate with other documents at your near by ndls center and they will send you the license in 5 working days. You can just walk in, no need to take appointment.

You can put your questions in comment area and I can answer to best of my knowledge. All the best!