U.K. and Ireland - Travelling with expired passport within Europe

I'm an Irish citizen currently living in Austria and hold an Irish passport. I plan to travel the next few months so I can't send my passport off to be renewed as I will need it for travelling. The problem is that it will expire in two months, before the date I plan to go back to Ireland. What are the implications if I arrive back in Ireland with an expired passport? Will I be fined a certain amount? Or maybe will they not make a big deal about the situation and let me off with a warning? Any information, suggestions on this topic would be greatly appreciated!

For within the EEA use this (http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fil:Austrian_ID_card.jpg). For travel outside you'll need a passport

Why not try to renew at the Embassy in Vienna? While on the website they say they won't do same day it appears that they might attempt to expedite under some circumstances.
http://www.embassyofireland.at/home/index.aspx?id=51898
http://www.dfa.ie/home/index.aspx?id=83416

I would absolutely renew the passport now as the worst case scenario would be that you would be denied boarding on your flight back home, when I was living in Austria, I also had an Austrian ID card which identified me as an Irish Citizen, but it couldn't be used as a travel document without my passport.

I suggest that you pay the Embassy in Wien a visit/call, it's close to Schwedenplatz on Rotenturmstraße.

Your problem is that getting on the plane at Vienna, the airline should refuse you boarding. I doubt if the Irish authorities will refuse to let you in.

Talk to the Embassy in Vienna ... I (an Irish citizen) need to renew my passport in Spain & have gotten a certified copy of my current passport from the Irish Consul here in Tenerife which I will submit with my application, sending it to the Embassy in Madrid (I had the form posted to me). I can hold on to my own passport until the new one arrives & then I must bring the original to the Consul to have it clipped at the edges and collect the new one. So, it should be much easier for you if you are near the Embassy in Vienna :)

Do make sure you get the passport photos right (new regualtions) - a colleague had his form returned because they didn't meet the new standards.

As above, I think your problem will be getting on any conveyance (boat, plane, or train to London) that will take you to Ireland with an expired passport.

I don't think that, as a non-Austrian citizen, you can use an Austrian ID card (if you have one) as a travel document: it is for identity purposes within Austria.

I don't think that, as a non-Austrian citizen, you can use an Austrian ID card (if you have one) as a travel document: it is for identity purposes within Austria.

My Maltese ID Card is valid for travel (as I am a Maltese citizen), but my wife's Maltese ID Card explicitly states "Not Valid For Travel", as she currently doesn't have Maltese nationality. I assume the same thing occurs in other EU countries.

You can submit a certified copy of the bio page of your Irish passport rather than the passport itself if it has 1 day-6 months validity left when you go to renew it. So you don't have to worry about handing it in when you need it for travel.

If you don't renew it you are liable to be denied boarding after it expires. If you do make it to Ireland you will be fine.