ROADS, railways, air and sea ports are facing one of the busiest weekends of the year, with thousands of people on the move.
Over 200,000 passengers will travel by rail over the weekend, with 25 special trains being provided by Iarnrod Eireann in addition to regular schedules. Aer Lingus will carry 117,000 passengers and Stena Sealink 79,000 passengers and 12,500 cars between now and Monday. Bus Eireann will carry up to 100,000 passengers on Expressway and provincial bus services.
Normal weekday bus services will operate today but travellers can avail of many midday and mid afternoon services on Expressway routes today and tomorrow. Usual Sunday services will run instead on Monday, with a number of alterations and there will be extra evening services to cater for people returning to main centres.
DART, Arrow and suburban services will operate normally over the weekend, except on Monday when a Sunday timetable will apply.
"Early Bird" trains from the provinces to Dublin which normally operate on Mondays wilt run on Tuesday instead because of the bank holiday. There will be some other alterations to train timetables and passengers are advised to check with their local stations.
Of the Aer Lingus passengers 110,000 will use scheduled services, with Dublin London being the busiest route.
All roads will be busy today. The Automobile Association's advice is to travel early or wait until tomorrow and the National Safety Council urges caution on the roads and in the water.
Met Eireann forecasts "mixed" weather. Tomorrow is likely to be the best for sunshine. By Sunday rain will arrive in the west and is expected to spread to other parts.