Content

• Steps
• Tips

The 8300 square kilometer island of Ireland is divided into two parts - 26 counties in the Republic of Ireland and another 6 in Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom. You can easily call any of the counties from the United States, but the dialing codes differ depending on whether the desired county is in the Republic or North. The 6 counties of Northern Ireland are Fermanagh, Armagh, Down, Antrim, Londonderry and Tyrone.

Steps

1. 1 Dial 011, the international access code that makes it clear that you are about to call another country.
   • This code works from the United States, Canada, and any other country in the North American dialing system. You may need to dial a different access code if you want to call from a different country. In Europe, for example, most countries use the 00 code.
2. 2 Dial 353 if you are calling the Republic of Ireland. To call Northern Ireland dial 44.
3. 3 Dial the 1 to 3 digit code (national direction code) for the city you are calling, without first dialing zeros. If you are calling Northern Ireland, this code can be 2 to 5 digits long.
   • If the first digit of this code for the Republic of Ireland is 8, then you are calling a mobile phone. In Northern Ireland, mobile phone numbers usually start with a 7.
4. 4 Dial the remaining digits of the phone number you are calling. Most telephones in the Republic of Ireland are 7 digits long. A mobile phone in Northern Ireland has a 10-digit number and a fixed-line number 9 or 10 digits.

Tips

• Both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland are in the Western European time zone which is synchronized with GMT or UTC (Greenwich Mean Time or Coordinated Universal Time). The continental United States spans 4 time zones, from EST (Eastern Standard Time) which is GMT -5 hours to PST (Pacific Standard Time) which is GMT -8 hours. Alaska is GMT -9 and Hawaii is GMT -10.
• Both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland observe Daylight Saving Time, but on a slightly different schedule than in the United States. In Ireland, clocks are set forward one hour on the last Sunday in March and revert back to normal on the last Sunday in October. In the United States, daylight saving time begins on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November.
• Almost everyone in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland speaks English, so your chances of facing a language barrier are extremely small.
• As with any international call, a call from the United States to Ireland can be very expensive. There are several ways to save money: contact your operator for a subscription with reduced rates for international calls or cheaper calls at night or on weekends. You can also use a prepaid card or use Internet calls using Skype or similar services.