When Telecom Eireann decided to convert to cardphones little did they know what was to follow. Ireland, since the humble beginnings in 1988 now has issued over 100 different cards and probably there are more than 5,000 collectors (which at least 50% would be under 18 years of age). The attractive designs and availability is the key to the success of Callcards in Ireland.

Telecom Eireann, Ireland's main operator, first installed cardphones on a trial basis in 1988. They undertook this step by testing G.P.T. Plessey magnetic cards in Irelands' capital city in April 1988. Cards with 5,10,20,50 and 100 units were issued with the same basic design. During this trial two pictorial cards were issued. The first was to commemorate the Millennium of Dublin city. It shows the famous Ha' Penny Bridge which spans across the river Liffey. The second would be more familiar to English collectors because it is infact an offical overprint of the G.P.T. Test card. These were given to engineers attending the F.I.T.C.E. conference in Cork in October 1988. The trial ended a few months later.

Telecom Eireann had decided to look at all the options which led them to conduct trials on another two systems. The second trial was of Autelca magnetic cards which took place in the south-western city of Limerick. Thirtyone cardphones were installed in February 1989 throughout the city. Cards were also issued with the same five values but with a different basic design. Two pictorial cards (20 and 50 units) were issued for an I.M.I. management conference which was sponsered by Telecom Eireann. This pair was given to delegates as a gift but many of them could see no use in the small piece of plastic so they were discarded. I was once speaking to an employee of the hotel, where the Conference was held, who remembers throwing out a few hundred of these cards when the conference had ended. The cards now sell for over £1,000 per pair!

In November 1989, nine Landis & Gyr cardphones were installed in the western city of Galway. The trial only lasted a short period, so much so, that used cards are now rarer than the mint ones which could be bought through the Telecom Eireann collectors club. The cards, which are of the same physical design as B.T. cards, could only be used in Galway.

The Telecom Eireann collectors club was started to allow collectors to buy new cards at face value. They now have almost 4,000 members from all around the world. They have an excellent policy of putting aside a quantity of all the cards they issue (except Test and Service cards), this makes it easy for collectors to get the more difficult private cards at a small premium above their face value. Initialy they reserved 9,000 cards for collectors but now they reserve one card for each member.

Although there was never a chipcard trial, Telecom Eireann had seen how successful they had been in France since their introduction in 1984. The cards are more expensive to produce but they are more secure in the long run. A demonstration card was printed by Gemplus with the chip in the old French position. It is not known whether the chip was actually programmed or not.

The first phase of installing cardphones in Ireland commenced in 1990 with 2,000 cards being issued in a very attractive brochure for another I.M.I. conference. The Schlumberger cardphones which are now installed nationwide, were in use in the hotel where the conference was being held. There are two variations of this card with both SI4 and SI5 chips.

Little were we to know that this was the beginning of the different variations on Irish cards. Ireland's collectors are unique to other countries' because of the amount of detail they go into. It is not just the different chips or surface texture but into small details such as Innovatron Logos and chip backgrounds. In my opinion it is up to each individual collector to decide what variations they want to have in their collection.

Since then Telecom Eireann has put a lot more thought into the design of the cards. Although they do not print cards for the collector's market (for instance cards with pictures of cars, trains, and aeroplanes) they have issued very attractive cards for events as the Hockey World Cup and Christmas.

The first advertising card issued was for Kelloggs as a promotion. 209,000 cards were issued and this was the most successful promotion ever run by Kelloggs in Ireland. Since then Telecom Eireann has introduced many international companies such as Guinness, EMI and Disney to the medium of Callcard advertising. They have still kept up the standard with wonderful sets as in the hugely popular EMI cards (Blink, Tina Turner, Diana Ross and Garth Brooks). These cards were all issued through the normal retail outlets but were kept by fans, so that cards such as "Tina Turner" are quite difficult to find. The first "Private" Telecom Eireann card was issued for the first Collectors Fair held every May in Dublin. Of the 1,100 issued 500 were sold at £4.50 each in a special presentation pack on the day of the fair. This card is now worth over £80. The remainder were snapped up through the Collectors Club weeks in advance. The card shows the "Royal Hospital" in Kilmainham. Since then Telecom Eireann has issued five more private cards. The first two for "Cable and Wireless" and "Tia Maria" had 9,000 put aside for collectors, but the recent "Eagle Star","Tia Maria 2" and "Eurobase" cards were only sold on a one set per collector basis. This move has been welcomed as a very fair way of selling private cards as it stops dealers cornering the market.

Things look bright for the future with attractive cards being issued steadily throughtout the year.

Although this article as been mainly about Telecom Eireann's Callcards, they are not the only company issuing cards in Ireland. The Dash Trial which was run through Dublin Bus was an electronic Purse which could be used in Telephones, Carparks, Toll bridges and on a bus route. This trial was the first of its kind in Dublin and has been very successful. Cardphones have been issued in Dublin's largest university since the start of the year with just one plain card issued to date. Hopefully they will keep the high stantards that are related to Irish cards.

Superphone is another company who have been using magnetic cards for their mobile cardphones for use on buses and boats. They are changing to Chipcards and have just issued their first complimentary card.

As I mentioned earlier I have written a catalogue of Irish Callcards so if you have any questions relating to Irish Phonecards just write to me at: Piero Tintori, 1, Pinewood Grove, Glasnevin, Dublin 11, Ireland.

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