Foreign Cars in Ireland

Guy:Incognito

Hagar wrote:

Don't be too quick to condemn drivers of foreign registered cars in Ireland. It is wrong to assume that they are all breaking the law.
Personally I drive an Irish registered car in France and I have French motor insurance, no road tax here so that's not an issue. What I'm doing is perfectly legal but you can't tell that as I pass you by in traffic..

But you can tell here, because at the very least they are guilty of not displaying insurance and tax. Moer elike that they dont have Irish insurance or tax.

Guy:Incognito

fischerspooner wrote:

well I'm sure if they had a way around it they'd take it. I've been considering buying a car in france and registering it at my ma's place down there, then I could tax/insure it in france for peanuts. Why the hell not?

Well for a start it is very easy for your insurance company to tell that you are not livign in France seeingga s you spend the whole yeah here, payingIrish taxes. They could just refuse to pay out. TBH I'm sure if you it someone, they aren't going to be too concern about your elfare if it turns out your not insured and they have a bg bill to pay.

fischerspooner wrote:

oh come on, reporting people for not paying road tax? Whatever next...

It's like drugs, it leads to bigger things.People will end up reporting things like rape and murder, oh the humanity.:D

ferdi

if its an EU number plate its legal

robinph

And its not just in Ireland that there is a problem with unlicensed vechicles on the road, they seem to be having these same kinds of problems with drivers in Lancashire recently as well:

The Register

IDMUD

kearnsr wrote:

Thats crazy talk. Anything to back it up. It is a well known fact that Ireland has a highly skilled workforce from many sectors including IT, Engineering and Science.

Why would they move here if they had to hire people from other countries? Doesnt make sense.

It's cheaper because the employment tax is lower here, even if you have to pay foreign workers more than Irish to perform the jobs. Irish citizens can't do the jobs being moved here because they don't speak fluent german, french, italian, swedish and so on.

Krook

Krook wrote:

yeah , well some drunk irish guy in a punto crashed into my dads beemer about 1and a half yrs agor and it turns out his insurance was cancelled 2 days in advance ( due to previous DUI's) and the Guards didnt want hear it or have anything to do with it.
My dad brought it up with MIBI and 1 yr later still no payout so my dad had to pay 7,000E of his own money to fix his car , and the drunk F***KEr didnt even want to contribute anything towards it .

thats what pisses me off not these eastern europeans who are decent drivers and if they would crash into u , im sure they would at least make an effort to recompensate you.
:mad:

I hazzard a guess if he drives a merc he can well afford it.

godtabh

IDMUD wrote:

Why do you think you've seen a sudden increase in foreign workers? It's because YOU can not perform the jobs being moved here from other countries.

The incrase can be related two things. The Celtic Tiger which and the enlargement of the EU. And I wouldnt call it sudden. It wasnt of a case on a Monday there was only Irish people working in Ireland by the end of the week there was a sudden increase in foregin workers

IDMUD wrote:

It's cheaper because the employment tax is lower here, even if you have to pay foreign workers more than Irish to perform the jobs. Irish citizens can't do the jobs being moved here because they don't speak fluent german, french, italian, swedish and so on.

That’s a big generalisation isn’t it? I know several people who speak fluent German, French Italian and many more languages (no Swedish do!).

You seem to only refer to one sector i.e. call center/costumer service. A lot of English speaking people would work in foreign countries. Does that mean that these forge in countries need to import people because their citizens aren’t up to the job? I don’t think so!

I'd say the vast majority of people working for multinational companies in Ireland are Irish. Maybe you can prove me wrong?

IDMUD wrote:

Irish citizens can't do the jobs being moved here because they don't speak fluent german, french, italian, swedish and so on.

Ask
Intel
HP
3Com
IBM
Any of the major pharmaceutical companies
(to name but a few)
can Irish people can do the jobs they need.
They wouldn’t come here if the work force wasn’t here.

Aid the Blade

i would suggest that if there is no licence plate left on the car then the filth may be more inclined to pull them over, and maybe do something then.

as for all those audis, bm's and golfs, you know the real nice ones with the tinted windows as "standard" that ferry them to lidl/aldi/tescos so they can stock up for their fri/sat nights drinking(usually followed with a little stabbing),
supposedly "chem metal" is a real cúnt to get out from around the wheel nuts,especially when the tyre has been slashed from the inside.ie. done from underneath the car.

nothing like seein a group of them drive it to the maxol and try in vain to pump it first before they eventually realise how bad the situation actually is for them.
their natural instinct is to abandon the vehicle, but when they come to their senses sunday morning & come back its an even sweeter kick in the balls as they see their radio gone especially as it kept you in smack for the weekend

BeatTun

i drove my irish registered car for a year and a half in edinburgh without any trouble from the police at all, and my car was quite distinctive.

IDMUD

BeatTun wrote:

i drove my irish registered car for a year and a half in edinburgh without any trouble from the police at all, and my car was quite distinctive.

It's only the Irish who wants to eat the cake and still have it. The door swings both ways being a member of the EU.

Hagar

That's probably because there is no revenue gain as VRT in Britain is just that, an admin charge associated with registering a vehicle. Whereas in Ireland VRT is a money spinner so import regulations are rigorously enforced.
Motorist bend over..:mad:

godtabh

BeatTun wrote:

i drove my irish registered car for a year and a half in edinburgh without any trouble from the police at all, and my car was quite distinctive.

IDMUD wrote:

It's only the Irish who wants to eat the cake and still have it. The door swings both ways being a member of the EU.

Whats the odds that he payed his insurance and had all the relevant docs to be on the roads.

There is nothing two faced here.

People are saying it is not right for people to drive on Irish roads with out tax and/or inurance. Same goes for Irish people in other countries.

DannyBoy.Lt

johnnyrotten wrote:

I am interesed in everyone opinion on the following?
Also are these cars Insured back home? If so how would the third party be fixed if involved in an accident?
JR

Hi, i'm lithuanian, i dont drive do. They usualy get cars insured in Lithuania, it costs less back home. You would get your compensation ...
I dont want to insult anyone but car insurance prices ar crazy in ireland...

galah

get the facts right, people...

First of all, foreigners are allowed to drive a foreign reg car up to year if they're here TEMPORARILY - i.e., if they're here on a contract, or studying. Check oasis.gov for more info... If you move here with intent to stay, you have to reregister STRAIGHT away, day one of arriving. So many foreigners are driving their foreign reg vehicle illegally since they came here to stay...

Second of all, the guards can't do anything (as far as I know) - it's customs who have the right to check and impound vehicles. Here in Galway, customs do this check about twice a year, at the entrance of one of the larger industrial estates. And if you have no good excuse why you vehicle is not an Irish reg, you have approx 5 days to reregister, or they'll impound the car. Customs used to check the "discounter" carparks as well - not sure if they're still doing this, maybe they should start again...

When I was still driving my German reg car, my German insurance covered me for that year (then decided to stay, and bought an Irish car, after I got hassled by customs), but after that, I would have been uninsured...not a nice prospect.

I fully agree with most of the posts here, though - a lot of foreign cars are death traps, uninsured, no NCT or similar, and the fact that they don't pay tax and all does not seem fair to the rest of us!


If you really have issues with foreign reg cars, report them to customs...

Hobbes

galah wrote:

So many foreigners are driving their foreign reg vehicle illegally since they came here to stay.

And what factoid are you basing that on? Do you have figures or is this just personal opinion.

If you really have issues with foreign reg cars, report them to customs...

Exactly.. although its much easier for people to come onto boards and whine about.

galah

hm, my sentence you quoted came out wrong (I'm a feckin' foreigner, after all..;-)) - it's not a "statistical" statement, it was more a conversational "so" - as in "therefore", not as in "a lot of".

Henry Ford III

DannyBoy.Lt wrote:

Hi, i'm lithuanian, i dont drive do. They usualy get cars insured in Lithuania, it costs less back home. You would get your compensation ...
I dont want to insult anyone but car insurance prices ar crazy in ireland...

Would you though?

The levels of 3rd party cover available are far below what is required on an irish policy. I've figures somewhere...

Low levels of cover will mean lower premiums. Irish prices are high I agree, but so are the levels of claims.

DannyBoy.Lt

Henry Ford III wrote:

Irish prices are high I agree, but so are the levels of claims.

I guess the only reason that pushes lithuanians and other imigrants to bring their cars here is insuranse prices.

Sizzler

Werent the cops supposed to "Clampdown" on these foreign regd cars in the last month or two?

Doesnt seem to be any evidence of it...

ibanezjem

fischerspooner wrote:

I envy them

Not in fashion sense though...

galah

DannyBoy.Lt wrote:

I guess the only reason that pushes lithuanians and other imigrants to bring their cars here is insuranse prices.

No, it's actually the fact that you can bring a lot more stuff by car, and that you're mobile when you arrive here, since usually you don't know where you'll end up (and if you do, then you're aware of crap public transport - so you'll need a car anyway)! (I wasn't even aware of insurance prices here when I first brought the German car...). It's convenience, not malicious intent to bypass high prices...

And I don't think insurance is all that bad (if you're an experienced driver, with no points and a good track record) - I pay around 400 Euros a year, for a 96 Polo - prices would roughly be the same in Germany...

ambro25

galah wrote:

I pay around 400 Euros a year, for a 96 Polo - prices would roughly be the same in Germany...

:eek: Please tell me that's not TPFT, but fully-comp with AA, replacement car and your own personal butler!

As for DE, I can't talk - but in FR or LU, you'd be looking at the low-end of €150 fully-comp (on your stats: full license, no points, good NCB).

As for the 'insurance is not that bad' bit - mine has doubled since I moved here from UK. Despite the additional NCB in the intervening period and the corresponding depreciation of the car. I'm talking fully-comp, btw. And I'm not talking about the road tax: 10 x more here (... and I'll not go on about the wisdom as to how such a windfall, for such a small country, is well spent on my behalf for my hard-earned and princely-expensive motoring pleasure and that of others).

Rant as you want, if the whole road/insurance/tax/VRT/etc. in Ireland wasn't so obviously (and rigorously) geared as a major money-spinner, there would be a lot less issues with re-registration and the like.

So how about you lay off the Poles et al for a little bit and start re-directing the debate where it's needed... I'd bet a good amount of hard-earned and -taxed money that the Poles et al would fall into place when the problem's sorted upstream.

empirix

A new bill is being passed in the Dail. that is whenever the lads get back from their holiers and sucking cuban cigars, i'd expect it to be in by October/November, basically it gives the Garda the right to impound the car on the spot if a foreign car has no tax or insurance and doesn't have a valid excuse.
Hopefullt the Garda will use this to maximum effect as i for one am pissed off with paying road tax and our new foreign friends get away without paying - i welcome them here but when your here live by our rules or piss off

DannyBoy.Lt

galah wrote:

And I don't think insurance is all that bad (if you're an experienced driver, with no points and a good track record) - I pay around 400 Euros a year, for a 96 Polo - prices would roughly be the same in Germany...

Ok, but what if your 23, 1.2 petrol old car, pay 650 a mounth rent and get paid 320 a week?

galah

well, i still think 400 is not bad compared with the sums younger drivers are faced with (had a friend who was quoted 4k for insurance - now THAT's bad..). For my personal situation, insurance is ok...

You are right though - Ireland is a massive rip-off when it comes to cars (and the process of reregistering a foreign car is time-consuming, annoying, and expensive, so I can fully understand why people wouldn't do it ...does not solve the problem though). I found it easier to drive my car back to Germany, and then buy an Irish car here - definitely less hassle.

empirix

ambro25 wrote:

:eek: Please tell me that's not TPFT, but fully-comp with AA, replacement car and your own personal butler!

As for DE, I can't talk - but in FR or LU, you'd be looking at the low-end of €150 fully-comp (on your stats: full license, no points, good NCB).

As for the 'insurance is not that bad' bit - mine has doubled since I moved here from UK. Despite the additional NCB in the intervening period and the corresponding depreciation of the car. I'm talking fully-comp, btw. And I'm not talking about the road tax: 10 x more here (... and I'll not go on about the wisdom as to how such a windfall, for such a small country, is well spent on my behalf for my hard-earned and princely-expensive motoring pleasure and that of others).

Rant as you want, if the whole road/insurance/tax/VRT/etc. in Ireland wasn't so obviously (and rigorously) geared as a major money-spinner, there would be a lot less issues with re-registration and the like.

So how about you lay off the Poles et al for a little bit and start re-directing the debate where it's needed... I'd bet a good amount of hard-earned and -taxed money that the Poles et al would fall into place when the problem's sorted upstream.

WTF, i don't care if its a million, they have to pay it, just because its too expensive. doesn't give anybody the right not to pay it, i remember when i first got insured, it cost 3500 irish pounds. Clown

ibanezjem

empirix wrote:

WTF, i don't care if its a million, they have to pay it, just because its too expensive. doesn't give anybody the right not to pay it, i remember when i first got insured, it cost 3500 irish pounds. Clown

here, here!!

Sizzler

empirix wrote:

A new bill is being passed in the Dail. that is whenever the lads get back from their holiers and sucking cuban cigars, i'd expect it to be in by October/November, basically it gives the Garda the right to impound the car on the spot if a foreign car has no tax or insurance and doesn't have a valid excuse.
Hopefullt the Garda will use this to maximum effect as i for one am pissed off with paying road tax and our new foreign friends get away without paying - i welcome them here but when your here live by our rules or piss off

TOTR.

ambro25

empirix wrote:

WTF, i don't care if its a million, they have to pay it, just because its too expensive. doesn't give anybody the right not to pay it, i remember when i first got insured, it cost 3500 irish pounds. Clown

I'm not sure my post warrants calling me a Clown, just because you disagree with it. All the more so since I can't really see in what way what I posted differs from your own point-of-view.

It's not as if I have been making excuses for unlicensed / untaxed / unregistered / uninsured drivers of any nationality (yes, including the locals - note), but I've been calling for a little bit more circumspection about this debate and a sideways glance at the root of the problem, not its (many) manifestations.

Your post reported, btw.

kdevitt

DannyBoy.Lt wrote:

Ok, but what if your 23, 1.2 petrol old car, pay 650 a mounth rent and get paid 320 a week?

Its means you can't afford to run a car in Ireland. You should buy a bike.

Henry Ford III

Sad but true.

MrPudding

johnnyrotten wrote:

How do you know that?

Probably the same way you, or others, *know* they aren't.

MrP

prospect

My sister in law was hit on saturday by an un-insured polish driver.
Guards arrived and he suddenly lost all his english (which he had before they arrived), he had absoloutly NOTHING on him or in his car to identify himself.

Luckily she is okay, but her car is written off. I only hope the uninsured drivers fund will compensate her.

Personally, I don't care how expensive insurance or tax is in this country. If you can't afford it, stay off the road.

galah

so hang on - will ALL claims against uninsured drivers be caught by this uninsured drivers fund? Is this fund funded by the tax payer/government?
(as much as I am glad that people who are involved in accidents with uninsured people will get rightful compensation, I still think it's crazy - why would anyone bother to get car insurance if this fund will cover it?) Or am I missing the point?

Wouldn't people be personally liable if they cause an accident?

kdevitt

galah wrote:

so hang on - will ALL claims against uninsured drivers be caught by this uninsured drivers fund? Is this fund funded by the tax payer/government?
(as much as I am glad that people who are involved in accidents with uninsured people will get rightful compensation, I still think it's crazy - why would anyone bother to get car insurance if this fund will cover it?) Or am I missing the point?

Wouldn't people be personally liable if they cause an accident?

Everyone who insures their cars here has a levy on their premium to cover the MIBI fund. Its a no hassle solution to get your car sorted if you have fully comp, if you have tpft its a lot of hassle. Same goes for the personal injury side of it. I'm almost two years trying to get my claim settled so I can clear all my physio bills after I got hit by an uninsured driver.

Anan1

galah wrote:

so hang on - will ALL claims against uninsured drivers be caught by this uninsured drivers fund? Is this fund funded by the tax payer/government?
(as much as I am glad that people who are involved in accidents with uninsured people will get rightful compensation, I still think it's crazy - why would anyone bother to get car insurance if this fund will cover it?) Or am I missing the point?

Wouldn't people be personally liable if they cause an accident?

AFAIK, the fund is paid for by a levy on our insurance premiums and only covers personal injury claims. People are personally liable, but getting money out of them is another story altogether.

dermot_sheehan

prospect wrote:

My sister in law was hit on saturday by an un-insured polish driver.
Guards arrived and he suddenly lost all his english (which he had before they arrived), he had absoloutly NOTHING on him or in his car to identify himself.

Luckily she is okay, but her car is written off. I only hope the uninsured drivers fund will compensate her.

Personally, I don't care how expensive insurance or tax is in this country. If you can't afford it, stay off the road.

If it was a polish registered car, as per the EU Motor Insurance Directives she would be covered by the polish uninsured drivers funds.

dermot_sheehan

Anan1 wrote:

AFAIK, the fund is paid for by a levy on our insurance premiums and only covers personal injury claims. People are personally liable, but getting money out of them is another story altogether.

The fund only covers damages to third parties. It's run by the motor insurnace bureau of Ireland. Recently the EU has stated it does not meet the requirements of the EU Motor insurance Directives as it refuses to pay out anything if a bunch of non-insured drivers get in an accident with each other.

dermot_sheehan

Big Dee wrote:

What about the NCT. What use is it having a test to ensure all Irish cars are roadworthy when no such checks are performed on the large number of foreign vehicles. Last weekend, I came round a corner to find a LT reged car "parked" sideways accross the road. As the roadway was blocked and obviously extremely dangerous, I got out to see what was wrong. Cutting a long story short, I located the owner, who casually told me the handbrake didn't work and it had rolled down the drive and out on the road!

Non-roadworthy vehicles, regardless of nationality can be impounded by the guards. You could have called them.

mike65

empirix wrote:

WTF, i don't care if its a million, they have to pay it, just because its too expensive. doesn't give anybody the right not to pay it, i remember when i first got insured, it cost 3500 irish pounds. Clown

Ambro25 is many things but not a clown - this is a clown. Please keep it civil.

Mike.

prospect

gabhain7 wrote:

If it was a polish registered car, as per the EU Motor Insurance Directives she would be covered by the polish uninsured drivers funds.

Nope, it was irish registered.

ambro25

mike65 wrote:

Ambro25 is many things but not a clown.

hrmmph... 'spose I'll take that as a compliment :rolleyes:

There's a few things that aggravates me in these threads, and these threads invariably descend into the same rants.

(i) generalisation: any non-IE-registered car circulating in IE at any time is a tax-doging, drunken-driven, uninsured, unroadworthy rattletrap.

(ii) nationalistic stereotyping: only 'foreign drivers' dodge any one or a combination of VRT, road tax, roadworthiness test and insurance... oh, and some sort of driving competence certificate to boot.

(iii) nombrilism: well I've paid X/Y/Z so they should too. Endof.

None of the above latent problems is specific to 'them foreign drivers'.

I've lost track of how many IE-reg'd cars I have seen in two years of commuting in Dublin, with no NCT badge, or an out-of-date tax or insurance. But it's more than I've seen foreign reg'd cars altogether. And from all walks of manufacture: from a clapped out 92 'D' Kadett to an 02 freshly-polished 'G' CLK (this morning - all 3 discs displayed and out-of-date by at least 2 months).

But hey, they're probably a much easier group to pick upon, since so easily/readily identifiable compared to IE cars, right? :rolleyes:

mike65

Quite, which is why I'm willing to leave threads open if the muppetry is challanged.

Mike.

Fey!

Prospect - PM sent.

Ambro25 - A woman I know recently bought an English registered merc, which she has no intention of clearing. This car was sold to her by a small time dealer here. She got her license in the great driving license giveaway years ago, and is one of the worst drivers I've ever travelled with. In the past, she has let her kids drive her cars knowing full well that they are unlicensed, uninsured AND drink-driving. One of her sons has been living in the states for several years, as he had a serious accident whrn drunk and fled the country the next day; if he comes back he'll be arrested as there's a bench warrant out for him (he since got married in the states, and whilst his American wife and kids have been here a few times, he can't come back). Her husband got rear ended a couple of years ago, and when the insurance company refused them costs, they went after the company and got a six figure settlement for "injuries"!

These people aren't foreigners; they're as Irish as leprauchauns!

Also, whilst people are debating the lack of VRT being paid by foreign nationals, spare a thought for the Irish people in business who've never paid taxes/registered for VAT whilst the rest of us do, and all of those who got exemptions a couple of years ago for unpaid taxes amounting to millions of euros. Who's going after them?

ninty9er

Solution to Foreign registered cars CRISIS yes Crisis

Hold the things on entry to the country.

If holidaying - You must provide proof in writing from your Accomodation

If on Contract - Don't bring one

If coming permanently - You'll have to leave the car with customs until such time as they recieve documentation from Revenue stating the car has been registered at which stage customs destroy the foreign plates and issue irish ones.

Also do as they don in Singapore - If it's LHD it's not allowed on a public road - coming on holidays - rent a car here!!

If they don't like it then p1ss of somwhere else. I'm jsut sick of this sh1t

dermot_sheehan

ninty9er wrote:

Solution to Foreign registered cars CRISIS yes Crisis

Hold the things on entry to the country.

If holidaying - You must provide proof in writing from your Accomodation

If on Contract - Don't bring one

If coming permanently - You'll have to leave the car with customs until such time as they recieve documentation from Revenue stating the car has been registered at which stage customs destroy the foreign plates and issue irish ones.

Also do as they don in Singapore - If it's LHD it's not allowed on a public road - coming on holidays - rent a car here!!

If they don't like it then p1ss of somwhere else. I'm jsut sick of this sh1t

All contrary to European Law (in addition to causing incredible problems along the land border with Northern Ireland)

Sizzler

gabhain7 wrote:

All contrary to European Law (in addition to causing incredible problems along the land border with Northern Ireland)

Yeah but all his suggestions are excellent

MercMad

I've read most, not all of this thread this morning, just a few points if i may,

.......if you go to France on holidays with your own car you MUST have a spare bulb/fuse kit, a warning triangle and a bunch of other things plus paperwork to prove you have insurance.

Why cant the "powers that be" over here demand insurance paperwork, certificate of roadworthiness, and driver ID at port of entry ?? Irish residents have to carry their licence at all times, so should ALL drivers on our roads.

At point of entry srivers of foreign registered cars should be stopped by customes and asked wheteher they are on holidays, if so show their return tickets, if on contract a copy should be produced and if anything else they should be brought to one side and either pay VRT and re-register or be put on a list and targetted !

The other issue is that we have known for many years about the Insurance Industry in this Country taking the p1ss out of us, and they have prevented fair competition by somehow disallowing other Companies from entering our market and insuring drivers of Irish registered vehicles. This situation may not be the same in other Countries i.e it may be possible to register and insurae a car abroad in your home Country and have full insurance to drive in any EU state !

I feel the true problem here is identity. It should be mandatory that EVERYONE needs to carry an ID that is internationaaly recognised so that anyone who causes an accident can be identified " given a fair trial and shot ! "

ambro25

MercMad wrote:

Why cant the "powers that be" over here demand insurance paperwork, certificate of roadworthiness, and driver ID at port of entry?

Irish residents have to carry their licence at all times, so should ALL drivers on our roads.

The law is clear and applies to any drivers of any cars in Ireland at any time: valid driving license, valid insurance certificate, proof of ownership.

There is no such thing as a 'law applicable to us Irish ' and a 'law applicable to them foreigners'. There's a 'law of the land' applicable to all on/in it, whether permanently or not, and that law is itself superseded by EU Directives as and where same applies. The law is not the problem, enforcement is.

I'm not aware of any loophole in Irish Statutes that exempt foreign nationals, resident or otherwise, from the above legal requirements.

It is my understanding that, since the law of land applies to all and sundry on/in it, and since there is probably more Irish drivers at fault in the eyes of the law than foreign drivers (in terms of volume/numbers), there is no need to finger-point specific groups as is currently being done. Rather xenophobically so.

MercMad wrote:

At point of entry srivers of foreign registered cars should be stopped by customes and asked wheteher they are on holidays, if so show their return tickets, if on contract a copy should be produced and if anything else they should be brought to one side and either pay VRT and re-register or be put on a list and targetted !

Fine. See how your law-abiding, tax-paying, UK car-importing Irish decent folk likes experiencing such a policing state. What next? Retina scanning, DNA-sampling, barcoding of any traveller at the airport? Summary deportation of visiting UK or French or German visitors with a one-way-only air fare, unless they prove they're self-sufficient/have a place of work/sponsor? This is the EU, not the US. For while longer at least. Thank God.

MercMad wrote:

This situation may not be the same in other Countries i.e it may be possible to register and insure a car abroad in your home Country and have full insurance to drive in any EU state !

It is. Certainly in France, UK, Germany and Belgium. Can't see why not in Poland or Latvia or wherever else. Whereby a visiting (as in "not legally qualifying as resident") driver of a F/GB/DE/B/PL/LT-registered car may be rightfully and legally covered in Ireland. But will the finger-pointing cease? Will it f***!

MercMad wrote:

(...)so that anyone who causes an accident can be identified " given a fair trial and shot ! "

How true and symptomatic, indeed. Nail on proverbial head there.

MercMad

Okay but my point is that whatever laws do exist aren't being enforced, or cannot deal with the situations we have seen to exist here !

I for one a a law abiding citizen ( most of the time) would not mind being stopped more regularly, randomly, and I would not mind being quizzed when I was entering another Country with a foreign registered car. In general it seems to be the case that it is assumed everything is okay, only for a problem to arise later that is harder to deal with !