LAST UPDATE | 23 Jul 2021

THE GOVERNMENT HAS changed the URL of its new website which allows people to request a certificate to show they had Covid-19 in the last six months after the first URL contained a spelling error. 

The website is now located on irishcovidcertportal.org. It is linked on the government’s website gov.ie here. 

The site was previously located on irishcovidcertifcateportal.org – which is missing an ‘i’ in certificate. The correctly spelled domain was purchased by a journalist after he spotted the error. 

The website is intended as an alternative to the Digital Covid Certificate helpline to request this cert. 

There have been issues with the DCC phone line in recent days after it went live on Monday, with callers facing lengthy delays and many unable to get through to an operator. 

The DCC is a standardised EU system which allows people to travel across member states without quarantine if they have been fully vaccinated, have recovered from Covid-19 in the past six months or recently received a negative Covid-19 test. 

Anyone who has received a positive PCR Covid-19 test more than 11 days ago and less than six months ago can request a recovery certificate.

The government's website to request a Covid-19 recovery certicate.

People who request a recovery cert will receive it by email within five days if a record of the PCR test exists, the government said. 

Those who have recovered from Covid-19 and the fully vaccinated will be able to avail of indoor dining services when they reopen next Monday. 

Spelling error

The previous name for the newly created government website to request a recovery cert spelled ‘certificate’ incorrectly.

Journalist Adam Conway spotted the error earlier today and purchased the correctly spelled domain name to prevent it from “falling into the wrong hands”.

“I’m happy to give it back,” he told The Journal.

“I saw a tweet about the site being up and I immediately spotted the fact that certificate was spelled wrong and wondered if it was a real address.”

He said after seeing the website linked on Gov.ie, he and his friend Fionn Kelleher worked to register the correctly spelled website and “got to work filling it out with what’s on the site now”. 

Irishcovidcertificateportal.org shows a drawing of a harp and a link back to the actual government website.

The site reads: “Looking for a certificate of Covid-19 recovery? You spelled “certificate” correctly unfortunately; you’re probably looking for irishcovidcertifcateportal.org.”

The Department of Health and the Government press offices have been contacted for comment.