Assistance and Guide dogs are welcome in all public areas of our ports and ships, subject to the necessary certification and pet passport/animal health documentation.
All assistance dogs must have the necessary accreditation and pet passport/animal health certificate documentation when checking in at the Port. They must also wear the correct jacket and harness at all times when travelling, and are allowed to remain with their owner in the passenger areas for the duration of the voyage. For sailings where foot passengers are permitted, passengers with an assistance / guide dog are permitted to walk their dog through the terminal building and onto the ship.
We accept assistance dogs who are recognised by the Assistance Dogs International (ADI) and International Guide Dogs Federation (IDGF) programmes. These programmes ensure Assistance dogs are specifically trained to assist and support people with a disability, whilst also being fully trained to work in a variety of environments and are accustomed to public access and interacting with many different types of people.
Where they are not recognised as an assistance dog by ADI or the IGDF, evidence/accreditation must be provided by a qualified dog trainer to prove that they have passed an assistance dog public access certification test in accordance with the requirements set out by ADI in order to be accepted as an assistance dog on our ships.
If travelling with an Assistance / Guide Dog, please contact us at disabilityofficer@irishferries.com at least 2 working days in advance of travel so that our Teams on-board can be notified and will be ready to offer special assistance if required.
The pet passport / animal health certificate etc requirements for entry for assistance dogs are the same as all other pets. Please consult the detail of these requirements by route:
Emotional Support Animals
Emotional support animals who do not meet the requirement of having assistance dog public access certification in accordance with the requirements set out by ADI can travel with us, however they will have to follow the same rules set out for our regular pets, and will not have access to the passenger areas on board. The access for un-certified emotional support animals is therefore as follows:
- Stay in vehicle during crossing (Ireland-UK & Dover - Calais)
- Stay in Kennels during crossing (Ireland-UK & Ireland-France)