Ireland Motorway Speed 2026: 120 km/h, Local Roads 60

Motorway speed limit in Ireland: 120 km/h — and since 7 February 2025, local rural roads are 60 km/h, down from 80.

The number that changed is not the motorway one

The motorway figure has been 120 km/h since section 8 of the Road Traffic Act 2004 set it, and it has not moved. What did move is the bottom of the ladder: the Act was amended so that local roads — the narrow, often unlined lanes that make up most of rural Ireland’s network — carry a default of 60 km/h, while regional roads stay at 80 (Road Traffic Act 2004 as revised, s.6). If you learned Irish limits before 2025, the number in your head for a boreen is 20 km/h too high.

Ireland also posts everything in km/h, not mph, an easy trap off the ferry from the UK. And the sting most visitors miss has nothing to do with speed: the M50 around Dublin is a barrier-free toll with no booth, and the charge must be paid by 8pm the next day (eFlow) or penalties stack on top.

Ireland Speed Limits Explained

Here is the full breakdown of speed limits across all road types in Ireland.

Built-Up Areas

The built-up area limit is 50 km/h under section 5 of the Road Traffic Act 2004, and 30 km/h zones are increasingly signed in city centres, around schools and on residential streets. Dublin has been extending them steadily.

Motorway Speed Limits

The maximum speed on Ireland’s motorways is 120 km/h for passenger vehicles.

Trucks and heavy vehicles are limited to 80 km/h on the same roads.

Speeding Penalties

A camera-detected speeding offence is dealt with by fixed charge notice and penalty points; ignoring the notice escalates it to court, where the maximum on conviction is higher and a disqualification becomes possible. The fixed charge amount is set by statutory instrument and printed on the notice itself, together with the payment deadline, so no euro figure is quoted here.

What Most Guides Don’t Tell You

Enforcement Reality

Enforcement is dominated by GoSafe mobile camera vans, which operate in designated speed-enforcement zones chosen from collision history rather than from traffic volume. They are marked but easy to miss, and they are as likely to be on a regional road as on a motorway.

No enforcement tolerance is published in Ireland — the figure this page used to quote was not sourced, and we have removed it. Treat the posted limit as the limit.

Truck Speed Limits

Heavy vehicles on Ireland motorways are capped at 80 km/h, creating a speed differential of 40 km/h with passenger cars. Be alert when overtaking or merging.

Alcohol and Speed

With a BAC limit of 0.05, Ireland is stricter than many destinations. Driving after even one drink and exceeding the speed limit can lead to a double penalty.

Left-Hand Traffic

Ireland drives on the left, and the 60 km/h local-road default exists precisely because those roads punish unfamiliarity: no centre line, high hedges, blind bends and farm entrances. Treat the new number as what it is — a recognition that 80 was never drivable there anyway.

How Ireland Compares

Key Facts at a Glance

More Resources

• Full Driving Rules for Ireland

• World Speed Limit Map

• Speed Unit Converter