When does the Raheny driving test centre close?

The Raheny centre finishes operating on Friday 18 September 2026. The Killester centre takes over the Raheny service, with tests there from Monday 21 September 2026.

Is the Raheny closure permanent?

The RSA says no. After initially signalling a permanent closure on 12 August 2026, an RSA spokesman said the next day that the centre would reopen in "six months to two years", though no precise timeline was given.

Will my wait be shorter at Killester?

The RSA expects waits in the area to improve, and Killester's waiting time was 12 weeks as of mid-August 2026 (down from 14 at the end of July), against Raheny's 29 at the end of July. But The Irish Times reported that 2,855 Raheny applications are transferring into a Killester queue of almost 1,400, and the campaign group Parc has warned the centre could be swamped. Nobody can promise you a number.

News · Driving Test · North Dublin

Raheny Test Centre Closes 18 September — Your Test Moves to Killester

Q: Do I need to do anything if I'm waiting for a test at Raheny?

No. The transfer is automatic: the RSA says applications are being moved to Killester and every affected applicant is being informed by email. Only applications and appointments after 18 September transfer, so a test already booked at Raheny before that date should still take place there — the RSA's email is your confirmation either way.

The RSA is shutting the Raheny driving test centre — the one with the longest waiting time in the country — and moving every waiting application to Killester, about a kilometre away. Here's what's actually happening, and why you need to do almost nothing.

📅 Published 28 August 2026🇮🇪 Raheny & Killester, Co. Dublin⏱ 6 min read

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What's happening

The dates, the distance, and what you have to do.

18 Sept
2026

Last day at Raheny (Friday)

21 Sept
2026

Killester takes over (Monday)

~1 km

Between the two centres

On 12 August 2026 the RSA confirmed that the driving test centre in Raheny, Co. Dublin runs its last tests on Friday 18 September 2026. Applications and test appointments after that date transfer to the Killester test centre, which takes over the Raheny service with tests from Monday 21 September 2026. Killester is an established test centre at St. Brigid's Parish Resource Centre, 306 Howth Road — about a kilometre from the Raheny site.

The short version for anyone waiting at Raheny: you don't need to do anything. The transfer is automatic — the RSA says applications are being moved to Killester and everyone affected is being told by email. And it's only applications and appointments after 18 September that transfer, so a test already booked before that date should still take place at Raheny; the RSA's email is your confirmation either way.

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Why it's closing

Not falling demand — a building site nearby.

Raheny isn't closing because nobody wanted tests there. The opposite: it has had the longest waiting time of any of the State's 57 test centres for months. The problem is construction — a €27 million development for older people near the centre. The RSA says the building works have been severely restricting the centre's capacity to deliver tests, and Minister of State for Transport Seán Canney has said the construction and road works in the vicinity disrupted the routes around it.

In July, RSA chief operating officer Brendan Walsh told the Oireachtas Transport Committee that the building works had "basically crippled our ability to deliver tests" at Raheny, and that the RSA was taking on more space at Killester. According to The Irish Times, only two driver testers had been working at Raheny for some time, and on 29 July the RSA received sanction to close the centre, once the extra space at Killester was secured.

Canney has said the RSA was asked to find an alternative location, and that it is also looking at opening another test centre in Dublin. Separately, a brand-new centre at the Springfield Hotel in Leixlip starts testing on 1 September 2026.

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Permanent or temporary?

The answer changed within 24 hours.

Wednesday 12 August 2026

The RSA confirms tests will end at Raheny on 18 September — an announcement that signalled a permanent closure.

Thursday 13 August 2026

An RSA spokesman tells The Irish Times the closure is temporary and the centre will reopen in "six months to two years" — but can't give a precise timeline.

Treat the reopening as unknown. "Six months to two years" is a wide window with no committed date. If you're waiting for a test in the area, plan around Killester — not around Raheny reopening.

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What happens to your application

The transfer is automatic — here's the sequence.

Nothing to do — the move is automatic

The RSA is moving the tests from Raheny to nearby Killester, has taken extra space there, and is emailing everyone affected to confirm that their application has been moved.

Watch your email (and spam folder)

The email from the RSA is the confirmation that your application now sits with Killester.

Know the new address before test day

Killester test centre: St. Brigid's Parish Resource Centre, 306 Howth Road, Killester, Dublin 5 — listed on the RSA's official centre list. Arriving at the wrong building eats your slot.

Prefer a different centre? That's still your call

Centre preference is managed through your MyRoadSafety account — the same portal you applied through. If Killester doesn't suit you, see our guide to the Dublin test centres for what each one is like.

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Will the wait get better or worse?

The honest answer: the numbers point both ways.

The case for better

Killester's waiting time was 12 weeks as of mid-August 2026, down from 14 at the end of July — against 29 weeks at Raheny at the end of July
Raheny had been running with only two testers; Killester is getting extra space as part of the move
The RSA expects waits in the area to improve

The case for caution

The Irish Times reported that 2,855 Raheny applications are transferring into a Killester queue of almost 1,400
Parc, the road-safety campaign group, has warned Killester could be swamped by the extra applications, pushing its waiting times up
From 1 November 2026 the new learner permit rules take effect — Parc's founder has warned the floodgates will open then. See our guide to the four-year permit rule

For context: Raheny's wait grew from 17 weeks at the end of May 2026 to 29 weeks by the end of July, and The Irish Times reported in mid-August that a fresh applicant there could expect to wait until February 2027 just to be invited to book. The national average stood at 12.1 weeks against a 10-week target. Whatever happens at Killester, applying early still matters — our waiting times guide explains how the queue and the invitation system actually work.

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What it means for your preparation

Same part of Dublin, different centre, different routes.

The test area shifts, but not far. Killester is close to Raheny, so you're still testing in north-east Dublin — but tests now start and finish at the Howth Road centre, not the Raheny one.
Killester is not a new centre. Unlike Leixlip, which opens from scratch on 1 September, Killester is an established centre with its own waiting list and its own testing history.
If you prepared for Raheny, don't panic. The skills the examiner marks — observation, position, progress, junctions, roundabouts — are the same at every centre. What changes is local knowledge: where the tricky junctions are and which roads the routes tend to use.
Rehearse the logistics. New address, new parking, new waiting room. Do a dry run to the Howth Road centre before test day, and go through our test-day checklist the night before — including the insurance certificate rule in force since March 2026.

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Frequently asked questions

The short answers.

When exactly does Raheny close?

The centre runs its last tests on Friday 18 September 2026. Killester takes over the service with tests from Monday 21 September 2026.

Do I need to reapply or rebook?

No. The transfer is automatic — the RSA says applications are moved to Killester and everyone affected is informed by email. Only appointments after 18 September transfer, so a test booked before that date should still take place at Raheny.

Is this permanent?

The RSA says no — after initially signalling a permanent closure, it said the centre would reopen in "six months to two years". No date has been committed, so plan around Killester for now.

Where exactly is the Killester centre?

St. Brigid's Parish Resource Centre, 306 Howth Road, Killester, Dublin 5 — about a kilometre from the Raheny site, and listed on the RSA's official centre list.

Will my wait be shorter now?

Unknown. Killester's wait (12 weeks in mid-August) was far shorter than Raheny's (29 at the end of July), and the RSA expects improvement — but thousands of transferred applications are joining the queue, and the new permit rules land on 1 November. Nobody can promise you a number.

Why is Raheny closing at all?

Construction — a €27 million development for older people near the centre. The RSA says the building works severely restricted its ability to run tests there.

Test moved? Get ready for it properly.

Wherever your test ends up, the marking sheet is the same nationwide. A pre-test lesson or a full mock test under examiner conditions tells you where you stand before the real thing.

Pre-test lessons → Book online