Vehicle registration plates in Northern Ireland use a modified version of the British national registration plate system that was initiated for the whole of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1903. Originally, all counties in the UK were allocated two identification letters. At that time, the whole of Ireland was in the UK, and the letters I and Z were reserved for the Irish counties. The 'I' series was used first, but by the time it came to using the 'Z' series in 1926, the Irish Free State had already come into existence, and so it was agreed that the Northern Ireland would use the AZ – YZ series, while the Free State would use the ZA – ZZ series. In 1987, the Republic of Ireland broke away from the system altogether. As of 2002 there were reportedly 794,477 recorded registration plates in Northern Ireland, compared to only 50 for the island as a whole when the format was first introduced in 1903.[3]
The full list of codes used in Northern Ireland appears below.
As in Great Britain, each code originally ran from 1 to 9999, and when one was completed, another was allocated. All possible codes had been allocated by 1957, following which reversed sequences were introduced, the first county to do so being Antrim in January 1958 with 1 IA
. These reversed sequences were completed quickly, leading to the introduction of the current "AXX 1234
" format in January 1966, where "XX
" is the county code and "A
" is a serial letter. This format allowed capacity to be increased. Each county adopted it once they had completed their reversed sequences, the last one to do so being County Londonderry in October 1973 with AIW 1
. From November 1985, the first 100 numbers of each series were withheld for use as cherished registrations. From April 1989, the numbers 101-999 were also withheld in this way. Even multiples of 1000 and 1111 ("four-of-a-kind") are deemed cherished by the DVLA and thus withheld. Each series ends at 9998 and follows on to the next letter/number combination in the series.[citation needed]
The distinguishing code for the United Kingdom, including Northern Ireland is "UK".[1] Prior to 28 September 2021, "GB" was used. [4] Number plates featuring other codes, such as "NI" or "IRL" (the distinguishing code for Ireland) are unofficial.[citation needed] From October 2021 if an owner of a vehicle wishes to avoid attaching a separate black on white “UK” sticker, it is necessary for the number plates to display “UK” on the left side. If the vehicle is driven in a country not a party to the Vienna Convention, a separate sign (black on white “UK” sticker) also has to be displayed at the rear of the vehicle.[5] Of the EU countries, a separate identifier is only needed when travelling in Cyprus, Malta, and Spain, as they are not party to the convention.[notes 1]
While motorists with vehicles registered in Great Britain are permitted by the DVLA to use number plates carrying Euro-style bands with UK national flags and country codes (such as ENG, England or SCO), this is not possible in Northern Ireland.[6][7] The Road Vehicles (Display of Registration Marks) (Amendment) Regulations 2009 state that "Paragraph (4) does not apply—(...) (b)if the relevant vehicle is recorded in the part of the register relating to Northern Ireland." Paragraph four reads "Subject to paragraphs (5) to (8), there may be displayed on a plate or other device an arrangement of letters corresponding with one of the sub-paragraphs of paragraph (9) and an emblem corresponding with one of the sub-paragraphs of paragraph (10)".
When the UK was a member state of the European Union, it was possible to choose to display number plates conforming to the common EU format introduced by Council Regulation (EC) No 2411/98, with a blue strip on the left side of the plate with the European Union symbol (circle of stars) above the international vehicle registration code of the member state (GB).[8] This format can not be issued after the transition period ended.[9] With Northern Ireland no longer being a part of the EU, the plates with the EU symbol are now no longer issued.[citation needed]
EU member states that require foreign vehicles to display a distinguishing sign of the country of origin are obliged by Article 3 of EU Regulation No. 2411/98 to accept this standard design as a distinguishing sign when displayed on a vehicle registered in another member state, making a separate sign unnecessary for vehicles registered in the EU.[citation needed]
After Brexit, other EU countries are no longer required to accept UK "Europlates", as the regulation only requires member states to accept the standard design as a distinguishing sign when displayed on a vehicle registered in another member state. After this, Euro-plates must be replaced by a number plate that features the UK code (GB before 28 September 2021) in order to be valid as a national identifier.[10][11]
The administrative counties of Northern Ireland were abolished by the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972, and their responsibility for issuing registrations was transferred to the NI Ministry of Home Affairs,[12] and later the Department of the Environment NI. The former vehicle section in the county town of each local authority became a "local office" of the relevant departmental agency, formerly Driver and Vehicle Licensing Northern Ireland and latterly the Driver and Vehicle Agency (DVA) in Coleraine.
From 21 July 2014, vehicle registration in Northern Ireland became the responsibility of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency DVLA in Swansea, which also administers the system used in Great Britain. The pre-1972 format of Northern Ireland registration plates continues unchanged in Northern Ireland. When the current system is exhausted the format will be swapped so NNNN LLL for example 1232 AIL.[13]
All the codes from IA
to IZ
, and from AI
to WI
(except for those containing G, Q, S and V, plus II
), were allocated throughout the island of Ireland in 1903, in alphabetical order of counties and then of county boroughs. Hence, Antrim was allocated IA
and Armagh IB
, while County Dublin, now in the Republic of Ireland, was allocated IK
, in between IJ
for Down and IL
for Fermanagh. Shortly before the partition of Ireland in 1922, Belfast completed OI
and was thus allocated the next available code, XI
, while YI
and then ZI
were allocated to Dublin City. After the partition, all codes with Z as the first letter (ZA
, ZB
etc.) were allocated in the Republic of Ireland, while all codes with Z as the second letter (AZ
, BZ
etc.) were allocated in Northern Ireland with the exception of County Mayo which had originally been allocated IZ. IG
was allocated to Fermanagh in 2004. VI
was allocated to City of Derry/Londonderry in 2023.
For each DVA licensing local office[14] (administrative county before 1974) the two-letter sequences are shown first, followed by the reversed two-letter sequences, then the three-letter sequences.
The current three-letter sequence issued by each DVA licensing local office:
(Updated: June 2024)
The following sequences were deemed inappropriate and will never be issued:
The following sequences were never issued:
GIA 8977
.BDZ
ended at 7458
due to computerisation in October 1986, followed by CDZ 101
.LZ
commenced in January 1947, IB
was not completed until August 1947.AIB 7786
.JIB
ended at 4400
due to computerisation in 1986, followed by KIB 101
.GOI 8301
.LTZ
series has been used by Transport for London for its New Routemaster buses, which are built in Northern Ireland.UZ
was issued early in July 1967 for Belfast City Transport.IJ 1-100
were mixed allocations to all types of vehicles, but thereafter there was a period when motorcycles were segregated in blocks; the following were the motorcycle blocks: IJ 101-150, 201-249, 301-350, 451-500, 551-600, 651-700, 751-800, 851-950, 1001-1100, 1151-1200
and 1251
up, (no information thereafter). Other vehicles took the remaining numbers, but 1000-1050
were, in fact, duplicated.FIJ
series.XIJ
ended at 3439
due to computerisation in October 1986, followed by YIJ 101
.AIL
series.EIL
ended at 2423
due to computerisation in October 1986, followed by FIL 101
.AIW
series.HIW
incomplete due to computerisation in October 1986 (highest normal issue unknown), followed by IIW 101
.AUI 1110
.CUI
ended at 7388
due to computerisation in October 1986, followed by DUI 101
.BJI 800
.JJI
ended at 4700
due to computerisation in October 1986, followed by KJI 101
.CIG
was deemed inappropriate and was not issued in sequence. However, the combination has since been issued in DVLA Auctions.NAZ
was deemed inappropriate and was not issued in sequence. However, the combination has since been issued in DVLA Auctions, but NAZ 1-199 are withheld.