Irish airlines, transport services, and the National Car Test (NCT) are among those impacted by a major global IT outage that grounded flights, disrupted hospital and financial services, and impacted media groups across the world. 

The Dublin Airport Authority (daa) has warned passengers traveling through Dublin Airport and Cork Airport to allow for more time due to the delay, with long queues forming at both airports. 

Dublin Airport is posting rolling updates on its social media feeds.

Shannon Airport said it is fully operational, though some airline check-in services were being carried out manually.

The airport advised passengers to refer to their individual airlines for more updates.

Belfast International Airport said it was operational and that passengers were being processed as normal, though noted that the global aviation network is still impacted and delays and cancellations can be expected.

Aer Lingus said the global IT outage is not significantly impactings its services, with flights operating as normal, though with delays in some cases.

"A small number of Aer Lingus flights have been cancelled due to airport and air traffic control issues arising from the outage. Any further cancellations will be communicated directly to impacted customers.

"There may be some processing delays at airports so customers should allow extra time for check-in, security, immigration and boarding. Customers should check the Aer Lingus website and app for updates."

Ryanair said it has been forced to cancel a small number of flights, and advised passengers not to go to the airport if their flight has been canceled.

Meanwhile, Transport for Ireland said that public transport services are operating as normal today, as are on-board fare-payment systems. However, some functionality on the Leap Website, TFI Live, and Leap Top-Up Apps are experiencing technical issues.

Ireland's Road Safety Authority said it is experiencing some disruption to its services due to a global IT issue.

Applications for learner permits and driving licences cannot currently be processed at NDLS centres, the RSA said. It is currently not possible for the RSA to contact customers to cancel Friday's appointments. Work is continuing to rectify this and the RSA will update customers as soon as possible as to appropriate next steps. The NDLS online service, however, is operating as normal. 

National Car Test Service (NCTS) is experiencing some disruption, forcing tests to be scrapped at some centres today.

The massive outage has been attributed to Crowdstrike, a cybersecurity company whose software is used by hundreds of companies across the planet to protect against hackers and external threats.

Crowdstirke CEO George Kurtz said the company is "actively working" with customers impacted by the bug and said a fix was being deployed. 

"This is not a security incident or cyberattack," Kurtz said in a statement on social media. 

Cybersecurity expert Troy Hunt predicted it "will be the largest IT outage in history," adding later that "this is basically what we were all worried about with Y2K, except it's actually happened this time."

Globally, the outage has impacted dozens of institutions, ranging from travel to media to banking to emergency services.

In the US, the Federal Aviation Administration's National Airspace System Status shows several ground delays, ground stops, and airport closures across the US.

Meanwhile, Sky News, one of the largest news channels in Britain, was also unable to transmit live due to the outage. In Germany, at least two hospitals canceled elective surgeries on Friday due to the outage. 

Banks and financial institutions across the world have also been impacted by the outage, with the London Stock Exchange Group reporting an outage of its data and news platform Workspace. 

However, in Ireland, AIB, Bank of Ireland, and PTSB have reported no disruption to their services though they are monitoring the situation.