The Garda helicopter is being used to monitor motorists in a 48-hour road safety crackdown following six deaths on the roads last weekend.
Members of the Garda Traffic Corps and district personnel have been drafted in to patrol the eight main routes in the State, according to the Garda.
"The vast majority of road users are responsible people who exercise care and consideration for others," a Garda spokesman said.
"Sadly there is a small percentage who are reckless and downright ignorant as to the right of each of us to use the public roads safely and without loss of life.
"Speed and drink driving are the main causes of fatal collisions. We encourage everybody to make a special effort to ensure that people desist from these dangerous practices."
The operation, today and tomorrow, is covering routes from Galway to Dublin, Clare to Mayo, Wexford to Cork, Cork to Limerick and Kerry, Limerick to Tipperary, Donegal to Sligo, Sligo to Cavan, and Dublin to Dundalk.
Gardaí say they will be highly visible along the routes, with a particular focus on accident blackspots. Checkpoints will be set up in every Garda division. Officers will be on the look-out for drink driving, speeding, non-wearing of seat belts, and dangerous driving.
Six people were killed in accidents on Irish roads last weekend. Another five people died in crashes over the May bank holiday weekend.
So far this year 135 people have died on the State's roads, an increase of five on the same period last year. The deaths include 65 drivers, 26 passengers, 22 pedestrians, 18 motorcyclists and four cyclists.
