People are being urged to walk, cycle or take public transport instead of driving a car tomorrow, which is European Car-Free Day.
Yesterday, the Minister for the Environment, Mr Cullen, called on the public to support and participate in the initiative."I would ask everyone to stop and think: 'Do I need to use the car for this trip, or could I walk, cycle or take the bus instead?'," he said.
The initiative aims to raise awareness of the alternatives to private car usage, particularly in and around urban areas, he said.
This is the fifth time the State was officially participating in European Car-Free Day, which is held on September 22nd every year.
Bus Éireann will provide free city and town bus services in Balbriggan, Co Dublin; Cork; Galway; Limerick; Dungarvan and Waterford; Sligo; and Westport, Co Mayo. Free Bus Éireann park-and-ride services will be provided in Waterford and Cork.
In Dublin, Dublin Bus and the DART service will be giving away 20,000 free prepaid tickets throughout the city in advance of Car-Free Day.
Areas confirming participation include Balbriggan; Blanchardstown; Co Clare; Clonakilty; Cork; Dublin; Dungarvan; Galway; Kilkenny; Limerick city and Limerick county; Navan; Portmarnock; Portrane; Sligo; Tralee; Tullamore; Waterford; Westport; and Wicklow.
The Departments of the Environment and Transport and Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI) are providing national funding for the free public transport with the co-operation and support of public transport operators. Local authorities will fund local events.
This year SEI has highlighted the event in primary schools, and inaugurated national participation awards for schools.
The central theme of European Mobility Week 2004, of which European Car-Free Day was an element, is "safe streets for children".
Mr Tom Halpin, SEI's head of customer services, said: "We all have an important role to play in European Car-Free Day.Whether it is by taking public transport, walking, cycling, car pooling to share the journey to work or finding alternative ways of doing the school run, we can all make the choice of leaving the car at home for one day."
Certain streets will be closed. In Cork some streets in the city centre will be closed from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and free travel on Bus Éireann city services will operate in the same hours.
In Waterford some city centre streets will be closed from 11 a.m. to 5.30 p.m., with free Bus Éireann services from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Some streets in Limerick city centre will be closed from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Free Bus Éireann services will operate the same hours.
In Sligo, O'Connell Street will be closed from 11.30 a.m. until 6 p.m. There will be free Bus Éireann city services throughout the day.
In Galway, the free Bus Éireann city service will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
In Dublin, Bull Island will be closed all day, and Grattan Crescent, in Inchicore, will be closed between noon and 3 p.m.