The luck of the Irish is shining down upon the Toyota Prius. The 10 year old (and still motoring strong) hybrid gas - electric car just received the green light to start shipping to Ireland. The Irish Government signed a deal with Toyota to trial Prius Plug-in ahead of its launch date in 2012.

Three of the new lithium-ion battery vehicles will be based in Ireland. They will be made available to leading companies to test drive including RTE, Vodafone, Hewlett Packard, Bank of Ireland, Google and Coca-Cola.

Toyota is partnering with Ireland's leading utility company, Electricity Supply Board (ESB…