Ten euro points worth knowing

1 The euro is worth £0.787564, just a little under 79 pence, while each Irish pound is equivalent to €1.27. The Republic is the only euro-zone country where the face value in euros of goods and services will appear higher than the Irish pound value.

2 There will be seven euro banknotes in circulation from January 1st, 2002, in denominations of €5, €10, €20, €50, €100, €200 and €500.

3 There will be eight euro coins, in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 cents and €1 and €2. The one cent coin will be slightly smaller than the current 5p coin and will be the smallest of the euro coins. The €2 coin will be the largest at about the same size as a 2p coin.

4 One side of the euro coins will be the same in all euro member-states. The other side will show the 12 stars of the EU flag and the year and a national emblem. In the Republic, the emblem will be the harp and the word Eire.

5 To convert from Irish pounds to euros, divide the Irish pound amount by the conversion rate of 0.787564, then round the resulting euro amount to two decimal places. Round down where the third figure after the decimal point is four or lower, round up where it is five or higher.

6 ATM machines will operate as normal in Irish pounds until December 31st, 2001. From January 1st, 2002, they will be converted to euros so when you put your card in, you'll get euros back out.

7 On February 9th, 2002, the legal tender status of the Irish pound will be withdrawn at midnight and the dual circulation period will end. A month later, on March 9th, dual display of euro and Irish pound prices will start to be phased out progressively.

8 The other 11 states who will introduce the euro are Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain.

9 A starter pack of euro coins will be available to the public from December 17th, mainly from post offices and some banks. The packs will be sold at face value of £5 (€6.35) and will contain at least one of each of the eight euro coin denominations. Designed to allow people to familiarise themselves with the new currency, they will not be legal tender and should not be used before January 1st.

10 The euro bank notes were designed by Robert Kalina of the Oesterreichische (Austrian) Nationalbank, inspired by the theme "Ages and Styles of Europe". His theme depicts designs from seven important architectural periods in Europe's cultural history.