The June bank holiday weekend is shaping up to be the busiest of the year so far with a selection of festivals, markets, sporting events and other diversions countrywide.
Dublin, Kilkenny, Cork, Laois and Navan are just a few of the cities and towns expected to draw large crowds over the coming days. And although the weather doesn't look like being particularly kind, nor does it promise to bring down the wrath of the rain gods - at least not all weekend.
Met Éireann says that everywhere will have a spell of rain on Saturday night, but this will clear the western half of the country by the start of Sunday. Along the east coast, rain will persist through the morning and may only clear later in the afternoon. It looks like good news for Monday, however, with dry weather and good spells of sunshine predicted.
In Dublin, the Docklands Maritime Festival will draw a huge crowd to enjoy the display of tall ships and the street market. Over 55,000 visitors came to last year's event and a similar crowd will certainly be drawn to this weekend of street theatre, music and maritime-related themes by the Dublin docks.
Also in Dublin, the Phoenix Park plays host to the Bloom 2007 Garden Festival, the largest event of its kind in Ireland.
Hosted by Bord Bia and sponsored by Fáilte Ireland, it is hoped the four-day event in the Phoenix Park will eventually rival the Chelsea Flower Show.
Bloom 2007 features 30 show gardens, where rival designers will battle it out to win gold, silver or bronze awards; 50 floral and planting displays; 70 acres of parkland; and over 100 exhibitors.
It was formally opened by President Mary McAleese yesterday and continues through the weekend. The show is open from 10am to 8pm today and from 10-6pm on Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
Also in Dublin, Opera Ireland's spring season 2007 takes place until Sunday at the RDS and traffic will be heavy before and after the event.
Perhaps the weekend's biggest draw - and now a permanent fixture in the June calendar - will be the Smithwick's Cat Laughs Comedy Festival in Kilkenny. Comedians lined up for the weekend include Tommy Tiernan, Paul Merton, Jason Byrne, Dara O Briain, Barry Murphy, Andrew Maxwell, Phil Kay, Karl Spain, Maeve Higgins, PJ Gallagher and Des Bishop.
Venues for the weekend's belly-laughs include the Village Inn, the Watergate Theatre, the Rivercourt Hotel, Club 51, Cleere's, Zoo bar, and Langtons.
On the horsey front, there's a special family day of racing in Navan, featuring the Lynn Lodge Stud Median Auction Race and the Coolmore Stud EBF Maiden.
In Laois, the Easy Rider charity cycle started in Rathdowney this morning and is passing through a number of towns en route to Tullow. Collectors will be present in each town along the way.
Over 50 cyclists are taking part in the 200-mile journey over the weekend.
Tomorrow, Saturday, the R417 between Athy and Carlow will be closed from 10am to 4pm for the Leinster Triathlon Championships.
Also on the sporting front, the main events are the Bank of Ireland Leinster Senior Football Championship match between Longford and Laois in Tullamore. That match kicks off in Tullamore at 6.45pm on Saturday evening.
And Croke Park will be packed to capacity on Sunday for the Dublin v Meath match. Kick-off is at 4pm, and traffic will be very heavy both before and afterwards in surrounding areas of Drumcondra and North Strand.
There are also two major running events on Monday - the Flora Women's Mini-Marathon in Dublin and the Cork City Marathon. The Dublin event starts at 3pm at Fitzwilliam Square, and the Cork marathon has a 9am start time. Road closures and traffic restrictions will be in place in both cities.
Some 560,000 women have entered the Dublin mini-marathon since it started 14 years ago, raising an estimated €100 million for charities throughout Ireland.
Airports are also expected to be very busy this weekend, and passengers are urged to allow extra time for their journeys in case of traffic and security delays.
In Dublin alone, more than 380,000 passengers are expected to travel through the airport between Friday and Monday - a 9 per cent rise on the same weekend last year. Over 2,300 flights will arrive and depart over the weekend.
The Garda and the Road Safety Authority have issued their bank holiday appeal to all road users to take extra care over the weekend and to never drink and drive. The Garda said extra enforcement would be in place to target speeding and drink driving.
Seven people died on the roads during the June bank holiday weekend last year.