"I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
Just like the ones I used to know
Where the treetops glisten
and children listen
To hear sleigh bells in the snow"
Yes folks, you guessed it, once again the official word from Met Éireann is don't expect a white Christmas. The closest thing to "sleigh bells in the snow" people are likely to hear are car horns beeping in the wet as irate drivers try to make it out of the city and back to the homestead on time for the man himself.
And just like Mr Claus making on his annual trip around the country, rain will start in Ulster and Connacht on Christmas Eve and visit the rest of the country throughout the night.
So tuck yourself up by the fireside and pour yourself a large glass of mulled wine cause this year its going to rain.
I suppose rain is better than snow for those travelling and with the expected 200,000 Bus Éireann passengers over the Christmas period it's probably for the best.
Normal weekday services will operate today but tomorrow ( Christmas Eve) will see some cancellations.
All Eurolines cross-channel services will be cancelled, as will the following Expressway services: 21.00 Dublin/Galway, 20.30 Galway/Dublin. Services on city, suburban and commuter routes will terminate earlier than normal. There will be no Bus Éireann services on Christmas Day.
On Friday, December 26th, there will be a limited service on the main Expressway routes, Cork suburban routes and the Limerick/Shannon/Ennis routes. Cork city services and the Cork airport service will operate to a Sunday timetable.
There will be no city services in Galway, Limerick and Waterford on St Stephen's Dayand no town services in Dundalk, Drogheda, Athlone, Sligo and Navan. The Eurolines and cross-channel services will not operate. Normal services with some alterations and cancellations will operate from Saturday December 27thto Tuesday December 30thinclusive.
On Wednesday December 31st(New Year's Eve), normal services will operate with some cancellations. Services on the city, suburban and commuter routes will terminate earlier than normal and Eurolines services will not operate, Bus Éireann said. Sunday services with some alterations will operate on January 1st. Full weekday services will resume on Friday January 2nd, except for services to and from Shannon Industrial Estate.
A special Christmas/New Year timetable is available from Bus Éireann offices and depots and full details of services are available on the website at www.buseireann.ie
Irish Rail has warned there will be disruptions to the Rosslare and Arklow route from Saturday, December 27th, until Sunday, January 4thinclusive, due to major station and track improvement work as part of the DART upgrade project. All DART, commuter and Intercity services will be suspended between Connolly station and Greystones from Saturday, December 27th, until Sunday, January 4th, inclusive.
Intercity services between Rosslare, Arklow and Dublin Connolly Station will be part or wholly substituted by bus and customers should expect delays of at least 20 minutes on their journeys.
Weekend closures on Saturdays and Sundays only will resume on 10th and 11th January 2004, Iarnrod Éireann said. Full details of the affected services are available on Iarnrod Éireann's website at www.irishrail.ie
Dublin Bus services during the holiday period will operate as follows:
- Today, December 23rd- normal services will operate on all routes. Nitelink services will operate.
- Christmas Eve- normal services will operate on all routes. Last buses will leave the city at 2100 and will operate in service back to their respective garages excluding buses from Heuston Station, Dublin Airport and Ferry Port, which will operate later than 2100 hours. A Saturday service will operate on DART feeder routes. Xpresso and Nitelink services will not operate.
- Christmas Day- no bus services.
- St. Stephen's Day- a Sunday service will operate on all routes. Nitelink services will operate. Xpresso services will not operate.
- Saturday, December 27th- normal Saturday services will operate on all routes. Nitelink services will operate.
- Sunday, 28th December- normal Sunday services will operate on all routes. Nitelink services will operate.
- Monday, December 29th- normal services will operate on all routes. Nitelink services will operate. Xpresso services will not operate.
- Tuesday, December 30th- normal services will operate on all routes. Nitelink services will operate. Xpresso services will not operate.
- New Year's Eve- normal services will operate on all routes but last buses will leave the city at 22.00 and will operate in service back to their respective garages. A Saturday service will operate on routes 102, 111 and 114. Nitelink services will operate. Xpresso services will not operate. Route 39B will not operate.
- New Year's Day- a Sunday service will operate on all routes. Nitelink and Xpresso services will not operate.
- Friday, January 2nd- normal services will operate on all routes. Nitelink services will operate. Route 84X Xpresso service will operate. All other Xpresso services will not operate.
Meanwhile, on a more serious note, the Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan has appealed to people to drive safely this year.
"I would urge all those who use our roads this Christmas to exercise extra caution at this time of year when thousands of extra journeys are made," Mr Brennan said.
The number of road deaths so far this year is 336 and it is estimated that 1,000 people will be arrested for drink driving during the month of December. So drive carefully.
Finally, the Garda are running Operation Freeflow designed to keep things moving safely in the city. Have a look at the freeflow website
Have a happy Christmas.