Ireland is an island nation in the North Atlantic Ocean that is a part of the UK. It is also listed fourth best country in the world for businesses. Even though it is part of the kingdom, the Irish data policy seems to be more private than England’s. The Irish government may not retain information on you without a good reason, but it does happen. That means that protecting your privacy is always important in Ireland. The same can be said for the new anti-piracy laws there. However, you can protect your data and your privacy with a VPN.
| Rank | VPN Service | Our Score | Server Locations | Visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | 9.8 | 160 |  |
| 2 |  | 9.4 | 87 | |
| 3 |  | 9.2 | 95 | |
| 4 |  | 9.0 | 110 | |
| 5 |  | 8.8 | 73 | |
The high courts of Ireland have come down hard on the ISPs as of late, forcing at least one of them to implement a three strikes policy. In contrast to the UK version of the rule, the Irish policy will require the ISP to send out letters two times for rights infringement and if the violator continues to do so, they will lose their internet service.
Using quite a bit of harsh language, the judge demanded a system to be put in to place for UPC that would cost an estimated 940k Euros, and 300k a year to run the system. UPC is Ireland’s second largest ISP, serving 360,000 subscribers. Unlike the web blocks in other countries, the court has also decided the ISP will foot 80% of the bill for this new system. The reasoning behind that decision comes from the judge’s idea that the “music companies’ constitutional rights are being destroyed”.
Despite arguments against, the ISP seems to have lost the court case on all points. One of those points was that ISPs were “mere conduits”. Though their argument was being backed up by a current European law, the judge decided the argument was not valid. They also thought this case should be a matter for the legislature, not the court.
Given all of this information, a good VPN will assist you in a few different ways. One of the biggest advantages to using one is for privacy. By using a VPN, your data is encrypted so you can protect it from anyone who would want to see it. Everywhere you turn these days, you hear of a data breech somewhere, why not protect your sensitive information?
The next advantage of a VPN is it’s ability to unblock geo-specific content. For an example of geo-specific content, let’s take a look at the premium streaming service, Netflix. Providing you have a paid subscription, you can enjoy just over 2600 titles in Ireland. That is quite a few titles, but why not have access to the US library that has around 7500? Unlike viewing some movies achieved through other means, having a common language is a definite plus. Wouldn’t it be nice to get access to a huge library where you do not get mired in subtitles? Using a VPN, you would simply need to connect to a server in the US, and enjoy as much as you wish.
That is great, you may say, but how does a VPN work? A VPN will create a secure connection to a server in another location, possibly in another country. From that other location, you can access streaming services or accomplish any goals you have, just as if you were in that country. There is some traffic shown, but specifics are not tracked. If you pick a service with a custom client, getting started is simple. We have some great recommendations for the best VPNs for you. These suggestions all use secure encryption levels, however, using the OpenVPN protocol will always be your best decision. OpenVPN (UDP) is best for streaming.
Let’s look at your focus for using a VPN. If you want to secure your data or unblock content, we would suggest ExpressVPN. They do not keep activity logs and have a kill switch feature, so an extra layer of protection is added to your browsing. They also have a very large network so you would be able to easily connect to those libraries of content and enjoy them.
If you are traveling outside of Ireland and you want to be able to see some of your favorite shows, we recommend ExpressVPN or PIA. Both encrypt traffic, but ExpressVPN includes MediaStreamer SmartDNS with their VPN which will help you unblock channels without the overhead of encryption. Why not be able to see your favorite channels like RTE News, TG4, or TV3 News from anywhere? You do not have to miss them with a VPN.
Feel free to read over our list of the top 10 VPN services if you’d like more options. We think however, you will be pleased with any of the VPNs in this post. We picked these choices over other leading VPN services based on privacy, server locations, speed, and price. We also looked for services with a good network of VPN servers in the region for your convenience.
Good VPN providers will help secure your online privacy, and have fast networks to stream HD content in other countries. The ones we have mentioned in this post are the best VPNs overall for whatever goal you want to accomplish. Geo-blocked streaming services and many other popular channels would all be viewable from Ireland with a VPN.