Free eBook · 28 pages · Published 3 August 2026
The Irish Guide to AI Governance
What the EU AI Act means now that 2 August 2026 has passed — and what Irish organisations should do next. Written by Richie Higgins, Founder and CEO of AIRAS Cloud, for boards, business owners, technology teams, compliance leaders, public bodies and Irish SMEs.
No form. No email required. Immediate PDF download.
Inside the guide
Twelve sections, written to be acted on.
The guide does not start with a hundred-page policy. It starts with the AI already in use: find it, name the owner, determine your role, screen what is prohibited, identify the duties that apply now and keep the evidence.
At a glance
Ten moves that matter now, from inventory and named ownership to preserved evidence.
The legal timeline
Every EU AI Act date Irish businesses need, including 2 December 2027 and 2 August 2028.
Irish enforcement
The Regulation of Artificial Intelligence Act 2026, the AI Office of Ireland and sectoral supervision.
Your legal role
Provider, deployer, importer or distributor — decided per system, not per organisation.
Building the inventory
Embedded vendor AI, staff-adopted tools, APIs and agents in one reliable register.
Prohibited practices
The hard gate that must be screened before any ordinary risk scoring takes place.
Article 50 transparency
Interaction disclosure, synthetic-content marking and labelling as operating controls.
AI literacy
Why a 20-minute training video is not an operating model, and what role-based competence looks like.
Risk and controls
Separating regulatory classification from risk scoring, and turning policy into provable controls.
Human accountability
AI does not approve AI: the decision needs a name, a rationale and a date beside it.
Vendor, shadow and agent AI
The exposure that sits outside the register, and how to bring it under governance.
A practical 90-day plan
A sequenced sprint, a board checklist and answers to the questions Irish organisations ask most.
Who it is for
Practical direction, not another legal summary.
- Boards and executive teams accountable for AI decisions
- Risk, compliance, legal and quality leaders
- Technology, data and security teams deploying AI
- Irish SMEs, public bodies and regulated firms
“Ireland does not need more AI panic. It needs an operating plan.”
AI can support discovery, assessment and workflow. The final accountable decision must remain with an authorised human. AI does not approve AI.
Preview
A look inside.
Questions
About the guide
- Is the Irish Guide to AI Governance really free?
- Yes. The 28-page guide downloads immediately as a PDF with no form, no email requirement and no paywall.
- Who wrote the guide?
- Richie Higgins, Founder and CEO of AIRAS Cloud, published by AFRH Consulting Limited (CRO 798243) trading as AIRAS Cloud in Ireland.
- What does the guide cover?
- The EU AI Act timeline, Irish enforcement under the Regulation of Artificial Intelligence Act 2026, your legal role per system, AI inventory, prohibited-practice screening, Article 50 transparency, AI literacy, risk classification, controls, human accountability, vendor and shadow AI, and a practical 90-day plan.
- Is the guide legal advice?
- No. It is general information for business planning, written against official EU and Irish sources available on 3 August 2026. Take your own legal advice on your specific obligations.
- Can I share the guide inside my organisation?
- Yes. It is written to be circulated to boards, risk committees, technology teams and suppliers. Please share the original PDF rather than extracts.
PDF · 28 pages · 1.9 MB · general information, not legal advice.
Put the guide into practice
The guidance stands on its own. AIRAS Cloud is the platform that runs it: discovery, assessment, controls, review, monitoring and evidence on one governed path.
No pricing commitment. No confidential information required.