Money
Euro. Northern Ireland, ninety minutes north, uses sterling — which catches people out on a Belfast day trip.
Card acceptance is close to universal, including contactless on the Luas and DART. Cash is still occasionally needed on buses and in a few older pubs.
Prices include VAT and are what you pay.
Tipping
Restaurants with table service: 10 to 12.5 per cent. Check whether a service charge has already been added for larger groups.
Not at a pub bar. Tipping for a pint is simply not done here — see the pub guide.
Taxis: round up.
Hotel housekeeping: a few euro is appreciated and not expected.
Entry and the Common Travel Area
Ireland is in the EU but not in Schengen. A Schengen visa does not admit you, and an Irish stamp does not consume Schengen days. Check your nationality’s requirement for Ireland separately.
Ireland and the UK share the Common Travel Area, so there are no routine passport controls between them — but airlines require photographic ID and most insist on a passport.
There is no visible border with Northern Ireland. You will cross it on a Belfast trip without noticing except that the road signs change to miles and the currency changes to sterling.
Safety
Dublin is a safe city by any reasonable measure and the realistic risks are ordinary: pickpocketing in crowds, bag theft in pubs, and bicycle theft, which is endemic.
Some streets around the north inner city can feel rough at night, and there has been sustained public concern about anti-social behaviour in parts of the city centre. Standard practice covers it — walk on lit main streets late, keep your phone out of a back pocket, and take a taxi rather than a long walk at three in the morning.
Emergency number is 112 or 999.
Practicalities
Electricity is 230V with Type G plugs — the same three-pin as the UK. Continental European appliances need an adapter.
Water from the tap is safe and free everywhere.
Smoking has been banned indoors since 2004, Ireland being the first country in the world to do it. Vaping rules vary by venue.
Drinking age is 18 and ID is checked routinely, including from people who are visibly older.
Pharmacies are numerous and pharmacists give informal advice readily.
Public toilets are scarce. Use museums, department stores, shopping centres and pubs — nobody minds if you buy something.
Local conventions
Do not tip the barman.
Buy your round. See the pub guide; this is the one social rule that is genuinely noticed.
Traffic drives on the left. Look right first, and note that Dublin pedestrians treat red lights as advisory while drivers do not.
“Sound” and “grand” both mean fine, good, yes, or thank you, depending on tone. “Grand” in particular does not mean grand.
Small talk with strangers is normal — in shops, in queues, in pubs — and not responding reads as odd rather than reserved.
Accessibility
The Luas is fully step-free. The DART has ramps at staffed stations. All buses kneel.
The difficulty is the street surface: cobbles in Temple Bar and around Dublin Castle, narrow footpaths on older streets, and Georgian buildings with steps at the door and no lift.