Has anyone used an Iban number before to transfer money and about how long does it take? I need someone in Rep of Ireland to transfer money into my HSBC account through the Iban system.

IBAN (International Bank Account Number) identifies your specific bank account. It is not really a new system. More just a European standardisation of account identification.

It combines your bank sort code and your individual account number along with country identifiers
It works perfectly OK and the speed is the same as before. This can depend upon the affiliation of the donor and recipient banks.
From NI you should be able to expect same day transfer and three days clearing.

Phone your bank and they will tell you exactly what to expect.

I'd find a different way to transfer the money to someone unless its a large sum of money your planning on transfering...

the reason I say this is because theres a lot of charges involved, you have to pay some, they have to pay some to recieve it... I needed to send some money to someone in Germany, about £60... and it would have cost nearly as much in charges to send it that way :?

Moving money around does cost money but it is not always prohibitive. Electronic transfer is not ideal for small sums.

My bank has facility for up to £2000 going to Europe (and some other countries) for a flat fee of £10. It is sent in the recipients currency and will take up to 6 days.
Same day will cost £25 (not worth it for sixty quid)

I can recieve electronic transfers for £7 (£1 for up to £100 transferred).
Currency changing does cost money but you can specify that the sender transfers Sterling to you (in this case from Northern Ireland you have no problem). You can also ask them to pay transfer/currency costs or you calculate those costs into your invoice where appropriate.