This weekend is the motorist's Christmas equivalent of "no room at the inn" with not a car park space to be found in any of the major towns and cities.
Queues of frustrated would-be shoppers sat in their cars waiting to access the major car parks in Dublin city centre today, with the Ilac Centre, Brown Thomas, Setanta, Dawson Street, Jervis Centre and Stephen's Green multi-storeys all full before lunchtime.
In burgeoning towns across the country, shoppers may now also find themselves queueing interminably to get out of a car park, while the frozen turkey slowly defrosts in the boot.
Leaving the car at home is no option for anyone stocking up on bulky children's toys and Christmas supplies, and park-and-ride remains an elusive dream, or something they only have in other countries - a bit like proper public transport.
Shoppers in Cork, in fact, do have access to a park-and-ride service at Black Ash on Sundays, including this coming weekend, Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve.
The car park operates from 10.30am to 8pm. The first bus to town leaves at 11am and the last bus from town departs at 9.15pm. Other than for Sunday opening, the park-and-ride will operate as normal. There will be no service on Christmas Day, December 26th or January 1st, 2007.
In Dublin at lunchtime, breakdowns on Eden Quay and on the Stillorgan dual-carriageway caused traffic delays.
The Christmas traffic plan, Operation Freeflow, muddled along. Motorists can get up to date information on the plan at www.freeflow.ieand they may text 'Park n' or 'Park s' to Dublin City Council's service at 53030 for information on exactly how full the north city and south city car parks are.
Today marks the last day of traffic restrictions on the Glen Road and Upper Glen Road in Phoenix Park at the entrance to the Cara Cheshire Home - single lane traffic is in place for the duration of the works.
AA Roadwatch said flooding also caused difficulties for motorists in many places today, including Limerick, Cavan, Kildare and Clare.
There were some reports of snow in the Wicklow mountains, and AA Roadwatch urged motorists to take extra care driving through the Wicklow and Sally Gap.
In Cavan, the Coothill to Baileborough Road (R191) is partially flooded and diversions are in place.
Racing at Gowran Park in Kilkenny will also affect traffic today, with the first race off at 12.40pm.
In Meath, roadworks are in place until 3pm at Carlanstown on the N52 among other places. A stop-go system is in place at Balrath Cross on the N2 a few miles south of Slane. Traffic diversions are also in place on the Kentstown Road entering Navan.
In Co Tipperary, traffic may also be affected by the Garda-conferring ceremonies in Templemore.
Revellers in Dublin city this weekend can avail of the late-night Luas services, which continue through to New Year's Eve. Dublin Bus also has extra Nitelink buses operating over the Christmas period.
In air travel, Aer Arann's flight RE314 due from Cardiff to Dublin at 3.15pm this afternoon has been cancelled. There are no reports of delays or cancellations at the other major airports.
All Irish Ferries and Stena Line services are expected to sail as normal today.
Some sporting action at Croke Park on Sunday may cause a little congestion around Drumcondra - the Munster football club championship final between Dr Croke and The Nire kicks off at 2pm.
Meanwhile, anyone wishing to escape the more commercial aspect of Christmas this weekend might try a little ethical shopping at the Castlebar Fairtrade event tomorrow (Saturday).
The fair marks the start of the Co Mayo town's celebrations after it achieved Fairtrade status and takes place at the Christian Fellowship church on the Mall from noon until 5pm. A range of Fairtrade produce from local shops, including crafts and chocolates, will be available.
It's more of the same on the weather front for the weekend. Met Éireann says frost and ice will clear in the morning as moderate to fresh westerly winds develop. Scattered rain or hail showers will continue in northern and western counties, but other areas will be mainly dry with sunny spells. It will be cold, however, with highest temperatures of 7 to 10 degrees.
Met Éireann expects Saturday night to be mostly dry and cold with clear spells and frost in some areas. Sunday will start dry, but rain and drizzle will spread eastwards as the day goes on.