Vehicle registration plates of Northern Ireland

Vehicle registration plates in Northern Ireland use a modified version of the British national registration plate system that was initiated for the whole of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1903. Originally, all counties in the UK were allocated two identification letters. At that time, the whole of Ireland was in the UK, and the letters I and Z were reserved for the Irish counties. The 'I' series was used first, but by the time it came to using the 'Z' series in 1926, the Irish Free State had already come into existence, and so it was agreed that the Northern Ireland would use the AZ - YZ series, while the Free State would use the ZA - ZZ series. In 1987, the Republic of Ireland broke away from the system altogether. As of 2002 there were reportedly 794,477 recorded registration plates in Northern Ireland, compared to only 50 for the island as a whole when the format was first introduced in 1903.
The full list of codes used in Northern Ireland appears below.
Format.
As in Great Britain, each code originally ran from 1 to 9999, and when one was completed, another was allocated. All possible codes had been allocated by 1957, following which reversed sequences were introduced, the first county to do so being Antrim in January 1958 with codice_1. These reversed sequences were completed quickly, leading to the introduction of the current "codice_2" format in January 1966, where "codice_3" is the county code and "codice_4" is a serial letter. This format allowed capacity to be increased. Each county adopted it once they had completed their reversed sequences, the last one to do so being County Londonderry in October 1973 with codice_5. From November 1985, the first 100 numbers of each series were withheld for use as cherished registrations. From April 1989, the numbers 101-999 were also withheld in this way. Even multiples of 1000 and 1111 ("four-of-a-kind") are deemed cherished by the DVLA and thus withheld. Each series ends at 9998 and follows on to the next letter/number combination in the series.
International vehicle registration code on the number plates.
The distinguishing code for the United Kingdom, including Northern Ireland is "GB", and number plates featuring other codes, such as "IRL" (the distinguishing code for Ireland) or "NI" are unofficial.
While motorists with vehicles registered in Great Britain are permitted by the DVLA to use number plates carrying Euro-style bands with UK national flags and country codes, officially only the European Union symbol and the "GB" country code are specified in Northern Ireland. The Road Vehicles (Display of Registration Marks) (Amendment) Regulations 2009 state that "Paragraph (4) does not apply—(...) (b)if the relevant vehicle is recorded in the part of the register relating to Northern Ireland." Paragraph four reads ""Subject to paragraphs (5) to (8), there may be displayed on a plate or other device an arrangement of letters corresponding with one of the sub-paragraphs of paragraph (9) and an emblem corresponding with one of the sub-paragraphs of paragraph (10)"."
European Union symbol.
When the UK was a member state of the European Union, it was possible to choose to display number plates conforming to the common EU format introduced by Council Regulation (EC) No 2411/98, with a blue strip on the left side of the plate with the European Union symbol (circle of stars) above the international vehicle registration code of the member state (GB). This format can not be issued after the transition period ended. With Northern Ireland no longer being a part of the EU, the plates with the EU symbol are now no longer issued.
EU member states that require foreign vehicles to display a distinguishing sign of the country of origin are obliged by Article 3 of EU Regulation No. 2411/98 to accept this standard design as a distinguishing sign when displayed on a vehicle registered in another member state, making a separate sign unnecessary for vehicles registered in the EU.
After Brexit, other EU countries are no longer required to accept UK "Europlates", as the regulation only requires member states to accept the standard design as a distinguishing sign when displayed on a vehicle registered in another member state. After this, Euro-plates must be replaced by a number plate that features the GB sign without the EU flag in order to be valid as a national identifier. Countries party to the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic are not bound to accept the EU design after the UK withdrew from the EU, because the "Europlates" will no longer show "the emblem of the regional economic integration organisation the country belongs" as described in the Convention after this.
Administration.
The administrative counties of Northern Ireland were abolished by the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972, and their responsibility for issuing registrations was transferred to the NI Ministry of Home Affairs, and later the Department of the Environment NI. The former vehicle section in the county town of each local authority became a "local office" of the relevant departmental agency, formerly Driver and Vehicle Licensing Northern Ireland and latterly the Driver and Vehicle Agency (DVA) in Coleraine.
From 21 July 2014, vehicle registration in Northern Ireland became the responsibility of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency DVLA in Swansea, which also administers the system used in Great Britain. The pre-1972 format of Northern Ireland registration plates continues unchanged in Northern Ireland.
County codes in alphabetical order.
All the codes from codice_6 to codice_7, and from codice_8 to codice_9 (except for those containing G, Q, S and V, plus codice_10), were allocated throughout the island of Ireland in 1903, in alphabetical order of counties and then of county boroughs. Hence, Antrim was allocated codice_6 and Armagh codice_12, while County Dublin, now in the Republic of Ireland, was allocated codice_13, in between codice_14 for Down and codice_15 for Fermanagh. Shortly before the partition of Ireland in 1922, Belfast completed codice_16 and was thus allocated the next available code, codice_17, while codice_18 and then codice_19 were allocated to Dublin City. After the partition, all codes with Z as the first letter (codice_20, codice_21 etc.) were allocated in the Republic of Ireland, while all codes with Z as the second letter (codice_22, codice_23 etc.) were allocated in Northern Ireland with the exception of County Mayo which had originally been allocated IZ.
Series per administrative county / DVA licensing local office.
For each DVA licensing local office (administrative county before 1974) the two-letter sequences are shown first, followed by the reversed two-letter sequences, then the three-letter sequences.