500,000 €2 coins to commemorate 50 years of Ireland’s membership of the European Union

The Central Bank of Ireland has launched a new €2 coin to mark 50 years of Ireland’s membership of the European Union.

The coin was officially launched by Minister for Finance Michael McGrath at an event in North Wall Quay on Tuesday evening.

The Central Bank will mint 500,000 of the special €2 coin and it will be issued into general circulation from 22 June 2023. The coin features the words ‘Éire EU50’ and 1973, the year Ireland joined the European Union.

Governor Gabriel Makhlouf said: “The Central Bank is proud to be issuing this new coin to celebrate 50 years of Ireland’s membership of the European Union. I am delighted that Minister McGrath could launch the coin at the Central Bank. Entry into the European Community, and later the European Union, has had a profound effect on the development and modernisation of the Irish economy and wider society over the last 50 years. We are pleased to mark this important milestone with the launch of this coin. People all over Ireland, and indeed Europe, should keep an eye out for this special €2 coin when it goes into general circulation.”

Notes to editors

The Central Bank of Ireland (as agent for the Minister for Finance) is the sole body with the statutory authority to issue legal tender in Ireland, in the form of circulating and commemorative coin. Irish collector coin products are issued on a yearly basis to celebrate and pay tribute to figures of national importance and to commemorate significant events in Irish history.