Almost 100 motorists a week in Northern Ireland were found to be over the limit during the Christmas crackdown on drink driving.
According to figures released by the Police Service of Northern Ireland, 294 drink-drivers were caught in the first three weeks of the campaign. This is an increase of 55 on the same period last year.
Assistant Chief Constable Roy Toner said: "If an irresponsible minority are determined to continue to drink and drive they can be assured we are determined to catch them."
Police say the campaign has been boosted by operations that concentrate police resources on road safety in urban and rural regions.
Since January 1st this year, the PSNI has detected 3,527 drink -drivers - 1,452 more than the same period last year.
Gardaí said yesterday they had arrested 567 people on suspicion of drink-driving in the first two weeks of the Republic's Christmas road safety campaign, a 3 per cent increase on last year.
Over 760 people have been breath-tested in the first two weeks of the campaign, which is 47 per cent more than in 2003.