Sixty people were arrested for drink-driving offences in Cork city over the past two weekends by gardaí taking part in the annual Christmas road safety campaign.
Insp Peter Calnan, head of the traffic division in Cork city, said that the message about the dangers of drink-driving was still not getting through to a number of older men, many of whom still believed they were not a danger to anyone after having a few pints in the pub.
It was also revealed yesterday that the figures for drink-driving offences for Cork city so far this year have reached 580. This compares to 550 for the whole of 2001.
Insp Calnan said it was demoralising to be heading towards Christmas knowing that gardaí were likely to end up arresting people who had been stopped for similar offences last year.
"Our drink-driving figures for this year are frightening, particularly when we look at the reaction to the penalty points for speeding. There was an absolutely huge reduction in speeding. People are not taking on board the dangers associated with drink-driving. It is as bad as ever. Some people being arrested we are actually seeing for a second time."
Repeat offenders are said to be older males who persist in their habits of drinking and driving. Gardaí in the city say a large proportion of younger people seem to be heeding the message about the dangers of combining alcohol and driving.
Over the past two weekends, Cork gardaí arrested 60 people who were driving under the influence of alcohol in the early hours of the morning. They have reported an increase in the numbers of drink-driving offences occurring between 5 a.m. and 7 a.m.
Gardaí are urging people to assign designated drivers or take taxis home.