Driving disqualifications imposed by any court in the UK will be recognised in both Northern Ireland and Great Britain from today.

The DoE Driver and Vehicle Licensing Northern Ireland (DVLNI) has joined forces with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) to ensure the ‘mutual recognition’ of penalties.

This means that a driver disqualified from driving in Northern Ireland is now automatically disqualified from driving in Great Britain and vice versa, regardless of which licence he holds.

Brendan Magee, Chief Executive of DVLNI, said: "Under the new system, a Northern Ireland driver who commits a driving offence in Great Britain can now agree to accept a fixed penalty and penalty points, instead of having to appear in court. The same applies to a GB driver offending here. The law also sets out that a driver can either hold a NI or a GB driving licence, but not both.

"These changes will also mean that a Northern Ireland driver may have his Northern Ireland licence withdrawn in Great Britain, either on medical grounds or during a new driver’s probationary period, if six or more penalty points have been incurred."

Despite today’s disqualifications notice anyone awarded penalty points in Northern Ireland or Great Britain will apply only in that jurisdiction.

(MB/GMCG)