I think people are missing the fundamental points in all of this...

Do people really want to run away from their home country, to get away from the 'intrusion' that is notification requirements and occasional police visits? Uproot your life, leave any family/friends that did stick by you behind, leave everything you know behind, all to avoid having to pop to the police station once or twice a year to update some details, a process that should take less than an hour per year (0.01% of your life), or to avoid having the police pop to your house twice a year and ask some uncomfortable questions? 

There is no 'legal' way to do this, as has been described within the thread. If somebody wants to 'run away' (ie without notifying UK authorities) to Ireland and then try to claim ignorance of Irish law to justify why they didn't notify authorities there, then that's an option (that I wouldn't recommend), but I don't think we should be pretending that this is likely to lead to anything other than further legal trouble, or, at the very least, a complicated and prolonged legal headache. And even if they did it 'correctly' from a UK perspective, and notified authorities here, why would they then want to go to Ireland and not notify, unless that is for some nefarious reason? Think about this clearly too. Would somebody really want to be seen as a 'sex offender' that is 'running away' from notification requirements? This is only likely to lead to further stigmatisation (and investigation), not just of themselves, but of anybody in a similar situation who might in the future want to do any kind of travelling. I appreciate that oftentimes people can be selfish and can only think of what they want in the moment and how to make their situation better. Sometimes, as some of us will know from our own experiences, that can be what leads to offending in the first place. But these are the kind of generally bad, ill-thought out ideas that lead to extra regulations being implemented on everybody, to cover off the 'bright ideas' of a few.

The Irish law is quite clear that their Notification Requirements apply to people convicted of qualifying offences in other States. Whilst there is a defence for somebody to show that the offence they were convicted of elsewhere is not an offence in Irish law, there is, as far as I can see, no defence of "sorry gov, didn't know". It would also be a bit hard to argue this if somebody had indeed left the UK failing to notify in line with... notification requirements: Revised Acts | Law Reform

In addition to this, the most obvious thing is that somebody would be spending that portion of your life, 'safe' from notification requirements in Ireland, but still inevitably looking over their shoulder and waiting for the day it all catches up with them. Which will probably be the day after they land themselves a top job in Ireland having potentially committed further offences of fraud etc by not disclosing their conviction for the role, just as one possible example. See where this goes?

And if they have complied with the UK notification requirements in doing this, if they don't give a return date, expect the UK authorities to alert the Irish when they notice they're still not back in six months, and if they did give a return date but fail to return, expect the UK authorities to issue an arrest warrant. 

I just don't see what 'benefit' is to be gained by doing this. And I don't see why anyone who is trying to be a law-abiding citizen returning to their community would want to. 

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All views, opinions & contributions are my own and do not represent the views of Unlock unless specifically stated.

There are quite a few differences between the UK register and the Irish one. So it does appear to be less draconian.

1. There are PPU/MOSOVO or equivalent in both countries. Home visits are routine in UK. In Ireland there is provision for visits but no ability to force entry into your home like in the UK, so you can refuse to let them in.
2. Both countries require annual notification of name and address. There is no requirement to notify bank details in Ireland. Both countries require notification of foreign travel.
3. Ireland does have civil orders, which work like the UK SHPOs, but they are far less common than in the UK.  An SHPO from the UK would not be enforceable in Ireland, so they would have to apply for their own version through the Irish courts.

Also worth saying the numbers on the Irish register are a lot smaller than in UK, even taking into account the smaller population.
Ireland has 5 million people and about 2,000 are on the register. UK has 60 million people and about 80,000 are on the register across England, Scotland and Wales.

If someone on the SOR in UK tells the police they are travelling to Ireland, then the police have the same options for notifying this via Interpol as they do for any other country. But with it being a low risk country, it is probably unlikely they would notify the Garda, unless the person was considered high risk. However once the Garda are notified, they will visit the person and tell them all about the SOR and what the rules are. https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2021-05-25/500/

So in summary, you probably could sneak into the country and go under the radar, especially if you are considered low risk by the UK police.

Yyyees but at no point did you mention a juncture at which I'm informed the Irish register exists let alone told to go on it. That's my core point. I'm British. You're Irish -- by birth or otherwise -- maybe it featured in your civics class or citizenship test -- but I assure you to a purely British mind, the existence of the Irish sex register is a piece of arcane wisdom indeed. 

I was physically in Ireland last month, as a 2nd undeclared port of call, working for my British company, from a hotel, officially unaware of any Irish register. If I was on the British Register permanently for life (I'm off it next month so no worries), I would have just stayed in Ireland until someone made me register. That's basically my point. I don't know why more people don't continue where I left off.

So yes do your own research people but also do your own thinking, and research procedures and practices, not just laws.

Add to that the possibility that the Irish Register might be less draconian that the British -- or the possibility that being on the Irish Register might take the heat off of your British life -- I thought that might at least be a discussion, the moving parts presented by Ireland. 

Hi
I have dual irish british citizenship and looked into this a couple of years back and from memory it is not exactly as you say I am afriad.
First the Irish authorities would know as you would have to declare to your OM you was leaving the country, who would possibly inform them 
You are probably going to have to become / apply to become legal to work etc and then required to notify them and yes they do have a SOR

I do not think many things have changed since I last looked but please anyone thinking do your own investigation as the consequences are not worth any risk.

Society suggests I must let go of all my expectations but I disagree, as whilst I have a voice, I have hope.

Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope is for tomorrow else what is left if you remove a mans hope.
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This forum supports these words, thank you Unlock and your contributors.

It doesn't affect me anyway -- I'm off the books soon and have no motive to move to Ireland.

And obviously anyone reading this should ask an (Irish?) lawyer (don't trust me), but ask the right questions -- i.e. will a person unprompted by any authorities (British or Irish) to register, be prosecuted for not registering in Ireland? It's barely even a legal question, just a question of rule of law really. I really don't think so. I really don't think it's possible to be prosecuted for not guessing your way onto the Irish Sex Offender Register. A compelled action like that -- expected without any prompting --  just goes against everything I've ever come to expect from legality and law throughout the West and beyond.

As for not finding evidence of ignorance of the law being an excuse -- it's not so much as an excuse as a cause for not being prosecuted.

You see it in action whenever an American doesn't pay their British TV license unprompted.

Not trying to get anyone into trouble -- just being realistic. I went to Ireland without ever being told to join any register. Consequently, I got to wondering, why don't more SOs move to Ireland, given the desperation and desperate brainstorming and plotting that goes on in these forums with regards to moving abroad.. You could give me a story to the contrary, but I would be amazed and basically shout "fie on your law".

That, in my book, is a fact that belongs under one's hat. That's all I have to say, without further info.

Then again, we've ruined it everyone now by drawing attention to the law, ending the ignorance. So now you'll need a night of heavy drinking in order to remove the knowledge and stay legal/excusable.

I admire your confidence. When I searched online for examples of tourists/visitors successfully using ignorance of the law as a defence, in any country not just Ireland, I could not find a single example. Not a single one, anywhere in the world. .

But bear in mind that having read this article you are now fully aware of the laws in Ireland, so you have no ignorance excuse in future. if the police were to take you to court, they would probably use your internet browsing history and maybe this conversation, as proof of your knowledge too.

"Ignorance of the law, as a general rule, is no excuse."

Nah. In this case ignorance of the law is an absolutely first class excuse, or else fie on their law. I am never going to spontaneously guess my way onto the Irish Sex Offender Register. Less still can you expect anyone to guess that the Irish penal system would ever be applied to foreign legislation -- even if you tell people they scarcely can believe it.

This side of Jerusalem, a person in authority (e.g. a judge) has to tell me the Sex Offender Register exists, and that I belong on it, if they want me to join the Sex Offender Register. 

You can't expect me to go to Ireland and offer myself up to their register without any prompting or knowledge, based purely on my own personal curiosity and personal perception of the similarity between UK and Irish law, etc ("hmm, I was reading the newspaper and I just noticed that Ireland has a law about "illegal recording" that reminds me a bit of the law I broke in England about "voyeurism", so I'd better offer myself up to their penal system"). They might -- as per your source -- maintain that I indeed theoretically should have been on it all along, but to hold me actually culpable, is just too ludicrous for words.

"Grey area" doesn't even begin to cover it. Right now, for all I know, my actions would not have been illegal in Ireland, what with nuances about deleted status of files etc, which may easily vary from country to country. Are we counting on my investigative skills in that regard? As part of holiday preparation? Also how long till I'm "off" the Irish register? Which I never joined to begin with? There's no judgement to speak of here, no sentence, no prompt, nothing to go by. And is this image possession business even a "sex crime" in Ireland? Or a matter of general contraband instead? How would I know "sex crime" is even an official category in Irish law? It wasn't always, and isn't everywhere. What about if I came to Ireland from "bongo bongo land" where the concepts around sex are all different and don't translate into Irish concepts of legal transgression?  These are just rhetorical questions to highlight the fact that I don't see any coherent obligation here.  

So I accept your source, but the bit that's missing is the how the culpability actually works, in a procedural sense. Who needs to have initiated what, etc. There is a reason, for example, why people aren't prosecuted for TV License dodging on the first visit of the inspector, even if they've had a TV 10 years. It's because TV tax is a unique peculiarity of British life and if you're never prompted to sign up, you can't really be held responsible for not doing so.

The Irish SOR is not a guessable reality. It is a surprise, esoteric detail of life in Ireland that did not exist 3 decades ago, and which no tourist can guess at in advance. This isn't tax we're talk about, some universal practice which all states perform. Most European states don't have a SOR. The Irish SOR is a totally unique and little known facet of Irish life. Vanishingly few Britons are aware the RoI has a SOR.

In my experience, there are plenty of things the PPU forget to tell you about how the SOR works, or how an SHPO is going to be be interpreted. No one told me about what to do when my debit card expired for example.

But that does not prevent the PPU from arresting for a suspected breach. They do have discretion and can give you a warning if they want to. But they do not have to, so it is still a risk. If it went all the way to court, then the judge may decide to let you off with a fine, if they conclude you really did not know about the Irish SOR, or they may take a tougher line and say it was your responsibility to find out what the rules are, before you went to Ireland.

In this hypothetical scenario we are discussing, there is a clear intent to deceive the authorities and they would no doubt take a very dim view of that, resulting in a more serious level of breach and even potentially a prison sentence. Ignorance of the law, as a general rule, is no excuse.

I'm not contradicting your source.

I would simply add that procedurally -- although I'm not a lawyer -- I truly expect that someone has to sit you down and tell you a sex register EXISTS...before you can be blamed for not registering.

I was in Ireland for a week without having heard of there being a register there. I'm pretty sure I'm not in trouble -- even if all the facts be known to everyone. I'm not about to be arrested for "failure to read the CIA World Factbook properly and the fascinating chapter on the Irish Sex Offender Register"

It's not one of those things like paying tax, where everyone is assumed to know the practice exists. I don't know these things, but it sounds like a basic feature of the rule of law that a unique practice such as a particular sex register has to be made known to me, before I can be said to have any kind of obligation to it.