As Ireland relaxes its border controls for international travel, some of the rules have changed, others stay the same.

For those arriving in the country, the Passenger Locator Form still must be completed, failure to do so is an offence.

The big change is around the EU Digital Covid Certificate. The certificate is not a pre-requisite for travelling, but is designed to make it easier to travel in Europe.

EU travel

For those arriving to Ireland from countries within the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland from today there is no requirement to quarantine if you have proof of being fully vaccinated, or having recovered from Covid in the past 180 days.

If you're coming from the EU and don't have valid proof of vaccination or recovery, then you'll need a negative PCR test - again no more than 3 days old.

Britain and the US

Passengers arriving from the UK and US and other countries to which the EU "emergency brake" has not been applied will also no longer have to self-isolate on arrival if they have valid proof of vaccination or that they have recovered from Covid-19.

However, if you're not vaccinated or recovered then you must have a negative PCR test, self-quarantine for 14 days, and if you get a negative test on day five onwards, you will be able to leave quarantine.

Travelling with children

And what about travelling with children?

From today those aged between 12 and 17 are required to have a negative PCR result, no more than three days old, unless they have valid proof of vaccination or recovery.

Children of any age, travelling with accompanying vaccinated or recovered adults will not be required to self-quarantine post arrival.

However, where an accompanying adult needs to self-quarantine, then all children must also do the same.

Hotel quarantine.

Hotel quarantine also remains in place covering around two dozen designated countries. A full list of these countries can be found here.

Passengers who travel to Ireland, who have been in or transited through a designated state are still required to spend 14 days in an assigned hotel unless they're exempt.

However, if you receive a negative PCR test taken on day ten, your quarantine will come to an end.

It's worth noting too that Ireland has signed up to the emergency brake mechanism, meaning if there's a sudden rise in infections in a particular country, that the Government can quickly change the rules around passengers coming from there.