Since the beginning of the pandemic, the Irish Travel Agents Association (ITAA) has been vocal about not only the supports needed by the travel industry but the clarity and requirements needed to restart travel. While government messaging and escalation of cases may make you wary of going outside your front door, safeguarding travel to put your mind at ease has been the focus of the travel industry. 

What does the Department of Foreign Affairs recommend? And what does it mean?

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) currently has two recommendations.

  • If you are considering travelling to a European country that follows the EU Traffic Light System, they advise to ‘exercise a high degree of caution’. 
  • If you are considering travelling to any other country, such as the USA, they advise to ‘avoid any non-essential travel’. 

The decision to travel is solely based on you and whether or not you feel comfortable travelling. It’s not illegal to travel nor will you be penalised for leaving the country. 

Legally, there is no law stopping anyone from flying into or out of Ireland. Flights have always operated, they never stopped. All be it at much reduced levels and with much lower passenger numbers on flights.

Paul Hackett, CEO of Click&Go

What will happen by summer?

This is yet to be seen. The ITAA is seeking clarification in regard to travel in the summer months as airlines are beginning to advertise flights and publish their summer schedules. As seen during the pandemic, if a flight goes ahead, even the current advice is ‘do not travel’ or ‘avoid non-essential travel’, airlines won’t refund the customer. As vaccination programmes have started to roll out, many countries are hoping to have most of their populations vaccinated and fully reopen their borders by the summer. 

Do I need to get tested before I travel? 

The requirement for a negative PCR test varies from country to country. The DFA website is the best place to check the most up-to-date entry requirements for your destination country. 

For example, Germany requires a negative COVID-19 test result before boarding a flight to Germany. This can be a PCR, LAMP or antigen test. In comparison, if you are travelling to France, you do not require a negative test. You are just required to sign a Declaration of International Travel and a Declaration of Honour that you currently aren’t presenting any symptoms of COVID-19.

We can argue over whether pre-departure airport tests could be Antigen or if they must be PCR. It is widely accepted that PCR is the gold standard with 98% accuracy levels, but Antigen gives faster results and is better in a mass testing environment. Accuracy for some Antigen tests is now running at 90% plus. Antigen has been used to test the entire population of Slovakia and they discovered approx. 50,000 asymptomatic people, that would not have happened without a mass testing programme using Antigen.

Paul Hackett, CEO of Click&Go

If you wish to get a COVID-19 test, be it PCR or antigen, for your own peace of mind, you can get these at Dublin, Cork or Shannon airport.

Are any countries required to show a negative COVID-19 test to get into Ireland?

For arrivals into Ireland, only those coming from the UK and South Africa require a negative PCR test, a minimum of 72hrs before departure, to enter the country. Failure to do so will result in a hefty €2,500 and even jail time. This new measure is to minimise the spread of new COVID-19 variant in from these countries.

From Saturday, January 16th, this will apply to all international arrivals into Ireland. You must present an email, text or document at departure confirming your negative COVID-19 result from within the previous 72hrs. Depending on the status (red, orange or green) of the country you departed from, you may need to isolate upon arrival in Ireland.

The ITAA has called for a uniformed approach to this kind of pre-departure testing across Europe. The aim is not for it to become a long-term part of travel, but rather a necessity to properly re-start international travel. Some countries already require pre-departure testing, which you can read about here. 

The ITAA have been calling for pre-departure airport testing across Europe for some time. This would give airports, airlines, travellers, and citizens of Europe confidence that all of Europe is focussed on their health and safety by not allowing people travel from “red” regions unless they have a COVID negative test result.

Paul Hackett, CEO of Click&Go