Why Are Irish Number Plates Dateless?

Number plates are something we tend to take fore-granted. We simply accept that all cars have them, that it’s a legal requirement, but when they were first introduced in Ireland in 1903 it was most controversial. There were even protests against the number plate system! People quite adamantly stated that they didn’t want to be numbered like convicts! However it was necessary. The number of vehicles on the roads was increasing, and the top speeds were increasing, so of course inevitably there were more accidents, and so there had to be some way to identify vehicles involved.

I guess everyone came round to the idea in the end, or simply accepted they couldn’t do anything about it, as license plates became law and the number of cars on the road increased year on year. In the early 1900s the increase was dramatic as car ownership became the ‘in thing’. In 1905 there were just 842 cars registered. It must have been amazing having the roads more or less to yourself, but of course the roads weren’t as well maintained as they are today and driving was quite a dangerous hobby! Fast forward just 9 years to 1914 and there were 10923 cars registered. The number of cars on the roads of Northern Ireland has continued to increase year on year ever since.

Northern Ireland plates have always been dateless. Plates on the mainland started out that way too, but in 1962 the year identifier was added. This has never happened in NI, so to this day, all NI plates are dateless. This makes them the perfect choice for anyone wanting to hide the age of an older car without spending a lot of money buying a pre-1962 GB mainland plate. You can order a Northern Ireland plate directly from us for as little as £40. Even though our Irish plates are the cheapest plates we sell, they certainly don’t look cheaper than the rest. Because the Irish number plate system is different from that of the mainland, as soon as you put them on a vehicle in England, for example, they really stand out from the crowd.

All our Irish plates are road legal in mainland GB and as we’re based in Ireland, we can get the plates to you faster and cheaper than any other company. In fact, we’re so confident we can get you the best price on any Irish plate that we offer a Price Promise. We will match or beat any price offered by any other cherished registration dealer offering the same registration number. So if you spot a plate we’re offering cheaper elsewhere, do give us a call and see what what we can do for you.