Hertz - Hertz hire in Ireland

I am planning a trip to the UK next June/July. I plan to hire a car, probably Hertz, and travel around England then cross to Northern Ireland and Eire, tour there and then return to England or Wales. My query is this. Would it be better to take a ferry with the the Hertz car to Ireland (and is this permitted?) or to leave the hire car in England at a Hertz depot, fly or sail to Ireland and hire a car there? I would really appreciate some advice here.
MoiraHughes

I am planning a trip to the UK next June/July. I plan to hire a car, probably Hertz, and travel around England then cross to Northern Ireland and Eire, tour there and then return to England or Wales. My query is this. Would it be better to take a ferry with the the Hertz car to Ireland (and is this permitted?) or to leave the hire car in England at a Hertz depot, fly or sail to Ireland and hire a car there? I would really appreciate some advice here.
MoiraHughes

Better to leave the hertz car behind. If you hire in England, Scotland or Wales and want to bring the car to Northern Ireland or Ireland you will have to first purchase a third party insurance for the vehicle to cover you on breakdown while across the water, Hertz don't have this product so you'll have to buy it from the AA.

Also if you purchase this insurance and the car breaks down it will be shipped back to your rental location and you will not be given a replacement car by Hertz in Ireland or NI.

I'd recommend you arrange your trips in two parts -- one part in England/Wales/Scotland and a second part in Ireland/Northern Ireland. The distances are short enough, well covered by public transport and plenty of cheap flights to make it easier to do it that way to say nothing of the challenges of taking a single rental car on such a trip. Perhaps rent a car in London, drop it in Scotland, fly to Northern Ireland, car there, train down to Dublin, another car there, drop it in Cork, fly back to London or home.

This is from the Hertz web (summary you can do it and there is no fee for Northern Ireland, but it looks like there is if you want to take it to the Republic) :

If I rent a car in the UK, can I take it to Continental Europe?

Answer

All vehicles are automatically covered with European Motoring Assistance. However if you wish to take a UK registered vehicle abroad, you are required by law to present form VE103B and an authorisation from Hertz. A Driving Abroad Fee applies. This fee includes AA continental cover and can only be purchased at time of pick-up. Conditions for Corporate Account Customers on corporate rates may differ - please contact the relevant department. The Driving Abroad Fee does not apply if you are going to Northern Ireland, Channel Islands, Isle of Man and the Isle of Wight. The fee applies even if you have a continental cover which covers hire vehicles.

Another vote to say two separate rentals. One for use within England and one within Ireland.
There are a huge number of flight routes and carriers across the Irish Sea, though do check carefully when you compare flights. Remember that 'optional' (and see if you can opt out - ha!) charges on some airlines mean the real cost is way higher than the headline price.

Well personally I would price it up and take the cheapest option. It also depends very much whether you want the horrible airport experience to get there quickly or a nice (but longer) drive to somewhere like Stranraer or Hollyhead for the ferry.

Make sure wherever you hire you are able to cross the Irish border. My reading of the Hertz text is that even if you hire in Northern Ireland there is an extra fee for crossing the border.