An astonishing total of one million people have arrived back to Ireland from overseas between December 18 and 24 – many defying the travel chaos inflicted by storms in the UK.
With Holyhead still undergoing repairs after the damage inflicted by Storm Darragh, UK-based travellers have resorted to other ferry routes and even last minute flights to get back to Ireland.
For many, the journey was complicated by high winds over the weekend which hit flight departures from many UK airports – and even forced the delay of some ferry services replacing the Holyhead routes.
Such has been the eleventh hour demand for flights that some one-way departures from the UK to Dublin, Cork and Shannon airports have soared to over €500.
Ellen Merry is welcomed home from New York by her Mum Una and her dog Oreo at Dublin Airport Arrivals.
Photo by Steve Humphreys
Ireland is now witnessing its busiest festive season for over a decade.
Travel conditions are expected to prove largely ideal over Christmas week with very mild weather and no forecast of snow or ice.
Bookmakers now rank Ireland as having only a remote chance of snow on Christmas Day – to the relief of those facing long road journeys.
Cork, Kerry and Dublin are ranked at odds of just 14/1 for snow on December 25 – with Belfast slightly better odds at 10/1.
Even Scotland’s northerly city, Aberdeen, is ranked at only 5/1 for snow on Christmas Day.
Met Éireann said Ireland will instead have a week of relatively mild albeit wet and cloudy weather.
Gardaí, the Road Safety Authority (RSA) and road safety charities pleaded with people undertaking Christmas travel to slow down, allow extra time for journeys and never to use drink or drugs when driving.
Revellers have been urged that, if they plan to go out socialising, to book a taxi, use public transport or organise a designated driver.
Katie O’Connor is welcomed home from Sydney Australia by sisters Rachel and Aine all from Faranfore Co Kerry at Dublin Airport Arrivals.
Photo by Steve Humphreys
Particular emphasis will also be paid to speed in urban areas this Christmas with strict enforcement of the new 30kmh speed zones.
RSA officials also urged people to conduct winter safety checks on their vehicles with particular emphasis on tyres, headlights, indicators and windscreen wipers.
A total of 171 people have died on Irish roads so far this year – nine fewer than for the same period in 2023.
Gardaí stressed that they will be mounting their biggest Christmas road safety campaign of recent years with random checkpoints, speed monitoring and random checks for drink and drug use.
The Christmas travel period ranks as one of the most dangerous times of the year on Irish roads with a traditionally high rate of fatalities and serious injuries in collisions.
An estimated one million Irish people will make road journeys of 20km or more over the festive period.
Road safety group, PARC, warned that the priority for every driver this Christmas should be to arrive safely with their passengers at their destination.
Ellen Merry is welcomed home from New York by her Parents Eunan and Una and her brother John and her dog Oreo at Dublin Airport Arrivals.
Photo by Steve Humphreys
The next ten ranks as a hectic period for Irish airports, bus and rail stations and ports.
Dublin Airport confirmed that it expects to handle more than 1.4 million passengers over the festive period
From December 18 to January 16, an average of 75,000 passengers will travel through the airport each day.
December 22/23 proved the peak 24 hour period of the entire Christmas travel season with a whopping 102,000 – 110,000 passengers arriving and departing from Terminals 1 and 2.
The next busiest day will be Friday, December 29, when the peak New Year’s Eve travel period gets into full swing.
Both Shannon and Cork Airports are enjoying their busiest seasons in years.
Cork celebrated its three millionth passenger last week – and will achieve its best passenger traffic for over 16 years.
Both Dublin and Shannon reported particularly strong bookings on North American routes, in part thanks to the strength of the US dollar against the Euro.
Dublin Bus, Bus Éireann, Iarnrod Éireann and Luas also expect record passenger numbers with extra services being provided this year to facilitate shoppers and those travelling home for Christmas.
Bus Éireann said it expects to handle 500,000 passengers from December 21.
Irish Ferries confirmed strong bookings for services which run right up until Christmas Eve.
Ianród Éireann urged all intending rail passengers to book well in advance for peak services given demand over the Christmas and New Year period.