SMS API for sending to Ireland
The Irish part of an SMS integration is not the request format. It is the sender name: registered with ComReg before the first message, because an unregistered name is delivered with a Likely Scam label rather than rejected.
That inverts the usual assumption in error handling. A 200 from the provider does not mean the recipient saw something trustworthy, so the check that matters happens before deployment, not in the response handler.
MCC 272, and the sender field
Ireland is mobile country code 272, and the dialling code is 353. Alphanumeric senders are accepted, but according to the documentation we have read only after registration, which takes about two weeks.
Because of that, the sender name belongs in configuration that is reviewed, not in a per-request field that any caller can set freely. An integration that lets a new brand name through without a registry entry will ship a fraud warning to customers on its first run.
Two failures that look the same and are not
A rejected number and an unapproved sender name arrive in logs as the same class of problem if the integration only records the recipient. They are fixed in different places: one in the contact database, the other with the regulator and the provider.
Log the sender name alongside the status code. In Ireland there is a third case that no status code reports at all, which is a delivered message carrying the Likely Scam label, and the only way to see it is to check the registry entry rather than the response.
No short codes, so replies need a plan
Two-way SMS is available according to the documentation we have read, but local numbers and short codes are not, and international numbers may be replaced with a name. For an integration that expects inbound messages, that is a design constraint rather than a configuration option.
Where a reply cannot be received, the opt-out and any confirmation flow have to run over something else: a link with a token, or a phone number that a person answers. The Data Protection Commission requires a working opt-out route in every marketing message, and a reply keyword that goes nowhere is not one.
Sources, by topic
| Mobile country code | www.twilio.com2026-09-22 |
| Sender registration | www.comreg.ie2026-09-22 |
| Alphanumeric sender | www.twilio.com2026-09-22 |
| Two-way SMS | www.twilio.com2026-09-22 |
| Numeric sender | www.twilio.com2026-09-22 |
| Opt-out requirement | dataprotection.ie2026-09-23 |
Use cases
Order and delivery notifications
Transactional messages from a registered brand name. Not marketing, so the consent rule does not apply, but the registry still does because the label follows the name.
One-time passcodes
Short validity and a recognisable sender. A Likely Scam label on a login code is the worst case, because the user is being asked to trust it at exactly that moment.
- Sender names used towards Irish numbers must be registered with ComReg; unregistered names are labelled Likely Scam for the recipient.
- Transactional messages about a service the recipient requested are not marketing under S.I. 336/2011.
- Marketing messages must carry an opt-out route that works with the sender setup in use.
FAQ
What is the mobile country code for Ireland?
MCC 272 according to the documentation we have read, with 353 as the telephone dialling code. The MCC identifies the network in technical interfaces, while the dialling code belongs in the number itself.
Can the API set a different sender name per message?
Technically yes, but in Ireland it should not be freely settable. Alphanumeric senders are accepted only after registration with ComReg, so a name that reaches the provider without a registry entry produces messages labelled Likely Scam rather than an error.
How should the integration handle a rejected message?
Separate an invalid number from an unapproved sender name, and record the sender alongside the status code. Ireland adds a third case that no status code reports: a delivered message carrying a fraud label, which is only visible by checking the registry entry.
Can I receive replies from Irish numbers?
Two-way SMS is available according to the documentation we have read, but local numbers and short codes are not, and international numbers may be replaced with a name. An inbound flow therefore needs to be designed around what the sender setup can actually receive.
Documentation and account are available. Commercial activation per market is checked at payment.
SMSPro · 3 sources · 2026-09-25