Irish iPhones are smilin’

Thanks to the fact that it shares a mobile phone provider with one of Apple’s already established countries, it appears that Ireland will be the next nation on the list to receive iPhone-hood. O2, the iPhone’s British distributor, said today that they’ll bring the iPhone to Eire on March 14th.

Both the 8GB and 16GB models will make the trip, costing €399 and €499 respectively. As usual, O2 will be offering a variety of different service plans for use with the phone, including a 175 minute/100 text plan for €45/month, a 350 minute/150 text plan for €65, and a 700 minute/250 text plan for €100/month. Additional minutes and texts will cost 20c and 10c apiece respectively. All plans are contingent upon an 18-month contract; if you’re an existing customer, you’ll have to extend your current contract when you upgrade.

There are some significant catches, though. Unlike most other countries, voicemail is charged at a rate of 15c/minute, and the iPhone’s trademark visual voicemail is said to not be “currently” available. What’s more, O2 will not apparently be offering an unlimited data plan, rather limiting the transferred data to 1GB a month and charging 2c per megabyte over that cap. You’ll also be limited to Ireland’s O2 network, unless you’re roaming. And, of course, there’s the usual warning against unlocking, that it may render your phone “permanently unusable.”

Any Irish readers out there itching to get their hands on an iPhone? What say you to these restrictions? How do they compare with other offerings in Ireland? Do the benefits of the iPhone outweigh the limitations? Have I asked too many questions? Sound off below.