The National Mapping Agreement (NMA) is an Irish agreement that gives government departments and public sector bodies unrestricted access to most of Ordnance Survey Ireland’s (OSi) geospatial data.
The following bodies can apply to join the NMA:
- Government departments
- Local authorities
- Enterprise boards
- Non-commercial semi-state bodies
- Health Service Executive
- Emergency services
- Higher education (for teaching, research and non-commercial activities)
- Schools (via the ScoilNet Maps initiative)
- Other public bodies (may be eligible via a joint agreement between government and OSi)
Existing OSi customers: If you want access to additional datasets under the NMA, contact your account manager.
New customers: Apply for access to OSi data under the NMA by filling out the form on this page: Apply to join the NMA
Geospatial analysis is not solely used for displaying locations on a map, it’s also used to identify trends, model scenarios, and visually interpret complex information. Using geospatial data will enable your organisation to make more cost-effective and better-informed decisions, therefore saving you time and money. Read more about the benefits of the National Mapping Agreement.
The following OSi data are available under the NMA:
Large Scale Data
Large Scale Data is OSi’s core database of Irish roads, rivers, buildings, natural features, man-made features and more. This detailed dataset is queryable and used to enhance analysis and decision making across all sectors including planning, legal, agricultural, construction and engineering.
Small Scale Data
Small Scale Data is a less detailed version (raster) of certain OSi data (e.g. Discovery Data, City Series, Town Maps) that is primarily used for display and visualisation purposes.
Discovery Data
Discovery Data includes forestry, trails, waymarked walks and summit information, and can be integrated with handheld GPS units. It can be used simply as a cartographic backdrop, or it can be leveraged for tourist and leisure activities, such as organising a sporting event.
Boundary Data
Boundary Data includes county boundaries, electoral divisions (EDs), townlands and small area boundaries. It’s a powerful for use in demographic analysis, particularly when used in conjunction with census data.
Historic Mapping
Historic Mapping is a series of highly detailed maps developed from large-scale surveys of Ireland conducted between 1829 and 1913. These maps are particularly relevant to genealogists, historians, and history enthusiasts. Digital versions (geo-referenced raster) are available under the NMA.
Aeronautical Charts
VFR Chart Scale 1:500,000
The Irish Aviation Authority visual flight rules (VFR) aeronautical chart edition 06, Scale 1:500,000, has been produced in both laminate and paper versions. The chart is intended for VFR navigation within the boundaries of the Shannon FIR.
VFR Chart Scale 1:250,000
The Irish Aviation Authority visual flight rules (VFR) aeronautical chart edition 003, (Scale 1:250,000), have been produced in both laminate and paper versions. The purchaser can buy either version but will get four charts on two sheets of paper covering the Shannon FIR in one plastic wallet. The chart is intended for VFR navigation within the boundaries of the Shannon FIR.
Height Data
OSI supply a variety of products for use in representing height and ground relief. Available as Contour tiles, Digital Terrain Models and also LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) high accuracy datasets.
There are 250 tiles in the Contour and DTM series (Republic of Ireland). Additional tiles produced by Land & Property Services (formerly Ordnance Survey NI) are available for Northern Ireland. Each tile covers a ground area of 20km x 20km, and all are available in Irish Grid (IG) or ITM Irish Transverse Mercator (ITM) and in vector and raster formats.
Digital Series Ireland
Digi Ireland & Road Atlas of Ireland
Digital versions of the favoured mapping of Ireland’s motorists at 1:210,000, 1:450,000 & 1:600,000 Scale Mapping. The 1:210,000, 1:450,000 and 1:600,000 all Ireland products (in association with Land & Property Services (LPS), formerly OSNI) are reproductions of our data as represented on the published paper versions of these products.
The 1:210,000 data supplied in tiled format as geo-referenced TIFF images or as a DWG in both Irish Grid (IG) and Irish Transverse Mercator (ITM). This data is revised approximately every 2-3 years. It represents Irelands up-to-date Road Network including 738 kms of motorway, toll areas, speed cameras and speed detection zones.
The 1: 450,000 & 1:600,000 maps are available as geo-referenced TIFF images in both IG and ITM
Orthophotography
Ortho rectified photographs are far more than just images taken from a satellite in space. Captured digitally orthophotography is corrected to allow for slopes and other distortions so that it corresponds exactly to large scale mapping, providing high levels of accuracy.
Wind maps
Detailed information on wind speeds, electricity transmission and distribution networks. Wind Maps provide detailed information on wind speeds, electricity transmission and distribution networks for specific locations around Ireland at national and county levels. Ireland has one of the greatest wind energy resources in Europe. The wind atlas can assist all those concerned with the wind planning process and is of great use to developers and policy makers alike. The Wind map is displayed using OSi mapping in conjunction with Wind Atlas information for the specific location selected. Wind speeds are displayed per meter / per second for onshore or off shore locations and are a valuable source of reference for wind farm developers.
For the most part, the data is captured at a scale of 1:1000 in urban areas, 1:2500 in suburban or periurban areas, and 1:5000 in rural areas.
OSi can supply data in most common file formats including DWG, DXF, NTF, SHP, TAB, Oracle, Esri, MapInfo, TIFF, CSV and TXT. If you require data in a particular format, please contact your OSi account manager.
All data supplied under the NMA comes from PRIME2, which is a digital repository of OSi’s most up-to-date and accurate spatial data.
All OSi data is subject to regular quality control checks by OSi quality control staff, for example the data is regularly checked for positional accuracy (i.e. checking a dataset to see how close a spatial object appears in relation to that object’s ‘true ground position’). OSi data is also updated regularly, for example OSi endeavours to add newly-constructed addressable buildings to their database within 12 months.
The data supplied to the end user is sourced from OSi’s spatial data store (PRIME2), so you’re guaranteed to receive the most accurate, up-to-date version of the data that OSi has.
NMA member organisations can access and use the data free of charge because the data provision is funded by central government.
Once your order is processed by your OSi account manager, you will be able to download small quantities of data (less than 9 gigabytes) using the NMA viewer. Larger quantities of data will be dispatched to you on a hard drive.
The NMA Viewer is the online user platform where NMA members can view and download OSi’s data. Please note that large volumes of data (over 9 gigabytes) will be not be available to download via the NMA Viewer and will instead be delivered to you on a hard drive.
Your OSi account manager will provide you with a link to the NMA Viewer, along with a username and password to log in.
It is possible to access the NMA Viewer on a mobile device however, for optimum user experience, desktop viewing is recommended.
If you’re having trouble logging in to or using the NMA Viewer, please contact your OSi account manager.
Once downloaded, the data should be imported, viewed and analysed using GIS (Geographic Information System) software.
All data made available under the NMA is copyright of OSi.
Data made available under the NMA is collected and maintained by OSi.
Data made available to an organisation under the NMA cannot be shared with third parties unless the data is required for a collaborative project between:
- the organisation and a third party that is contracted by the organisation
or
- the organisation and a third party that is also a member of the NMA
You may store NMA data for the length of time that is specified on your organisation’s contract with OSi.
OSi does not collect data from users, but does welcome feedback regarding how datasets could be modified or improved for future versions.
If you notice an error in a dataset, please inform your account manager.