The three most important international airports in the Republic are Dublin
Airport, Cork Airport and Shannon Airport. All provide extensive services to the
UK, Europe and North America. The Irish national airline Aer Lingus and low-cost
operator Ryanair are based at Dublin. Shannon is an important stopover on
trans-Atlantic route for refuelling operations. There are several smaller
regional airports in the Republic (Galway Airport, Kerry Airport, Knock
International Airport, Sligo Airport, Waterford Airport) that mostly limit their
services to Ireland and the United Kingdom.
In
Northern Ireland there are three main airports. Belfast
International (Aldergrove) provides routes to Ireland and Great
Britain, as well as many international services to Europe and
recently Belfast-New York (Newark). Belfast City and City of Derry
Airport mainly provide flights to Great Britain
Rail
The rail network in Ireland was developed by various
private companies with the help of British Government funding
throughout the late 19th century, reaching its greatest extent
around the 1920s. The standard gauge of 1600 mm (5 ft 3 in) was
eventually settled upon thoughout the island, although there were
narrow gauge (3 ft) railways also. Ireland also has one of the
largest freight railways in Europe, operated by Bord na Móna, this
company has a narrow gauge railway of 1200 miles.
Road
The island of Ireland has an extensive road network, despite the low
quality of many of these until recently. Northern Ireland has
historically had better main roads, while the Republic of Ireland
has an increasing motorway network, focused on Dublin.
Ireland
