Road signs in Ireland

The symbols used on these warning signs do, nevertheless, resemble much more closely those used (on red-bordered white or yellow triangles) in the rest of Europe than many of those seen in the United States.

These signs differ from their modern-day equivalent as they have black raised text on a white background.

This style of sign has become a common feature of many tourist images of Ireland and can be seen in some Irish pubs.

While most examples of these signs still in situ are rural finger-posts, the advance directional sign of this era can still very occasionally be seen: this has a grey background, with the destinations in outlined, white-background boxes linked together with black lines, and the text is not raised on these, unlike on fingerposts.

[6] The first generation of the current sign system, introduced in 1977,[7] can also be seen in on some national roads (and also on the oldest stretch of the M1).

This is similar to the current system, but the signs are simpler, a different shade of green is used, and the Irish place names are not in italics.

"Compass-point directions" (such as "The North, "The South" and "The West") were formerly used, particularly in Dublin where the road network intersects.

In 2005, upon the opening of the South Eastern Motorway section of the M50, the National Roads Authority erected new style gantry signs.

The one aspect of the 2005 scheme that was retained is the half-gantry (or cantilever) sign just before the exit, which has now also been extended to other roads.

A second change introduced in 2007 is that the flag sign at the gore, which previously listed the primary destinations to be reached, now features the junction number and the word "Exit" instead.

Until 1997, all mandatory signs were circular in shape and featured black symbols on a white background with a red border.

Since the introduction of the 1997 regulations, their design is identical to those used in the United Kingdom, with white symbols on a blue background.

In October 2022, a nine-month long pilot scheme was undertaken by the NRA to introduce new signs that would replace Belisha beacons on newly installed pedestrian crossings.

This scheme saw the introduction of a new blue square-shaped pedestrian crossing sign (featuring a fluorescent yellow background),[11] like those already used in continental Europe.

Following the conclusion of the study, the sign was officially adopted in March 2024, though beacons are still permitted to be installed.

Although it was designed uniquely for dark text on light backgrounds, the Transport Heavy weight is used for all signs in Ireland.

A distinctive oblique variant of Transport Heavy is used for Irish text, in which letters are inclined at 15 degrees.

Signs to points of interest (services, institutions, tourist sights) have white text on a brown background.

The use of legend panels (coloured backgrounds for destinations and route numbers) and patches (coloured background containing a route number enclosed in brackets), derived from the Guildford Rules, is used to show roads of different classification on signs.

Destinations on motorways and high-quality dual carriageways are signposted as follows: Chapter 4 of the TSM divides other information signs into the following categories: Regulatory signs are mostly circular and mostly black on a white background, with a red border.

Warning signs use the MUTCD design, in that they are black on an amber (orangish-yellow) background, and are diamond-shaped.