Ireland’s advertising rules in 2026
Irish advertisers face a mix of national and EU changes. Alcohol advertising on television has been restricted between 3am and 9pm since January 2025, while mandatory alcohol health labels were deferred from May 2026 to September 2028. Coimisiún na Meán opened its first formal investigation under the Online Safety Code in September 2026. EU rules on political advertising and on AI-generated content now apply as well.
Executive findings
- 1
Since January 2025, alcohol advertising on Irish television is restricted from 3am to 9pm, and on radio on weekdays from 3pm until 10am the next day.
Secondary source. Scope: Ireland; law firm briefing on the Public Health (Alcohol) Act 2018, as of . [1]
- 2
Mandatory alcohol health warning labels were deferred from May 2026 to 3 September 2028.
Secondary source. Scope: Ireland; law firm briefing, as of . [1]
- 3
Coimisiún na Meán opened its first formal investigation under the Online Safety Code on 8 September 2026, into X’s age assurance.
Documented: official source. Scope: Ireland; Coimisiún na Meán, as of . [2]
- 4
Regulation (EU) 2024/900 on political advertising has applied since 10 October 2025, including a ban on political ads from non-EU sponsors in the three months before an election or referendum.
Documented: official source. Scope: European Union; EUR-Lex summary, as of . [3]
- 5
AI Act transparency duties under Article 50 have applied since 2 August 2026; deepfakes and AI-generated public-interest text must be labelled unless a person has reviewed it and holds editorial responsibility.
Documented: official source. Scope: European Union; European Commission FAQ, as of . [5]
Method and limitations
- Question
- Which national and EU rules changed Irish advertising in 2025 and 2026?
- Written for
- Marketing leads and agencies buying media in Ireland.
- Decision at stake
- What to change in Ireland media plans, creative and data set-up in 2026.
- Sources
- A law firm briefing on the Public Health (Alcohol) Act 2018 and Coimisiún na Meán’s online safety updates. EU sources: EUR-Lex summary of Regulation (EU) 2024/900, Meta’s announcement on EU political ads, and European Commission material on Article 50 of the AI Act.
- Period
- Official and legal sources as published and opened on 18 October 2026.
- Markets
- Ireland, within the EU framework.
- Definitions
- Online Safety Code: Coimisiún na Meán’s binding rules for video-sharing platforms established in Ireland.
- Limitations
- Gambling advertising rules under the Gambling Regulation Act were outside the scope of this article.
- This is not legal or tax advice. Confirm obligations for your business with qualified counsel in the market.
Alcohol: broadcast windows now, labels later
Secondary source
Section 19 of the Public Health (Alcohol) Act 2018 came into effect in January 2025 and limits when alcohol ads can air: on television from 3am to 9pm, and on radio on weekdays from 3pm until 10am the next day. Earlier sections already restrict alcohol sponsorship of events aimed at children. The health labelling duty in section 12 was deferred by statutory instrument to 3 September 2028.
Online safety supervision
Documented: official source
Many video-sharing platforms have their EU base in Ireland, which puts them under Coimisiún na Meán’s Online Safety Code. The regulator opened its first formal investigation under the Code in September 2026, into the effectiveness of X’s age assurance. Advertisers in age-restricted categories should expect platforms to tighten age gates further.
Political and social issue ads: EU rules and platform exits
Documented: official source
Regulation (EU) 2024/900 on the transparency and targeting of political advertising has applied since 10 October 2025 and covers Ireland. It also bars political advertising from sponsors outside the EU in the three months before an election or referendum.
Meta responded by ending political, electoral and social issue ads in the EU. Its newsroom update says these ads stopped being delivered on 6 October 2025. Social issue ads are a wider category than election ads, so charities, campaign groups and brands running cause-led messages in Ireland need a route that does not depend on Meta's political ad products.
AI-generated creative: labelling from 2 August 2026
Documented: official source
Article 50 of the EU AI Act has applied since 2 August 2026. Deepfakes, and AI-generated or AI-manipulated text published to inform the public on matters of public interest, must be labelled unless a person has reviewed the text and holds editorial responsibility. Providers of generative AI systems that were already on the market have until 2 December 2026 for the machine-readable marking duty.
The Commission published a voluntary Code of Practice on marking and labelling AI-generated content on 10 June 2026, including optional icons that deployers can use. For advertisers the practical step is a creative log: which assets were generated or altered with AI, who reviewed them, and where a label appears.
Where we see opportunity
FOCUSADS view
Alcohol brands can move weekday daytime budget into evening TV, out-of-home and digital channels that allow age targeting, and keep pack and label creative unchanged until the 2028 deadline. Cause-led campaigns that used Meta’s social issue ads can move to search, publisher partnerships and owned channels.
How FOCUSADS applies this
FOCUSADS view
Ireland plans run a policy screen per channel before budget is allocated: political and social issue messaging, regulated categories and AI-generated creative are checked first, and channels that cannot carry the message are removed with the reason shown.
How this connects to our method: How FOCUSADS screens channels by market
References
- Alcohol labelling in Ireland: timeline for compliance deferred, Arthur Cox, accessed
- Online safety news, including the first investigation under the Online Safety Code, Coimisiún na Meán, accessed
- Summary of Regulation (EU) 2024/900 on the transparency and targeting of political advertising, EUR-Lex (European Union), accessed
- Ending political, electoral and social issue advertising in the EU in response to incoming European regulation, Meta Newsroom, accessed
- Transparency obligations under Article 50 of the AI Act, European Commission, Shaping Europe’s digital future, accessed
- Commission publishes Code of Practice on marking and labelling AI-generated content, European Commission press corner, accessed