Helicopters, horses, punters and politicians will descend on Galway this week for the annual summer race festival which opens in Ballybrit this evening.
Light northerly winds and temperatures of up to 22 degrees are forecast today, but increasing cloud is anticipated for Tuesday and Wednesday - when, coincidentally, members of the Cabinet arrive for Fianna Fáil's jamboree.
Rain is forecast for Thursday, Ladies' Day, when clothes horses, rather than those of the equine kind, tend to be the focus of much attention.
Overall prize-money this year is quoted at €1.7 million during the 51-race programme, but the city itself hopes to raise multiples of that during the seven-day spend.
However, publicans have been alerted to the prospect of inspectors from the Office of Consumer Affairs, who may be checking the price of drink to ensure racegoers are not being taken advantage of.
Fianna Fáil has played down reports that bookings for its tent this year were somewhat slower than usual, and has dismissed as "rubbish" claims that headquarters was not happy with a new fundraising event planned for tomorrow night by the Galway West constituency. The constituency night in the Radisson Hotel costs €15 a head. The Radisson ballroom can accommodate 1,200 people. Tickets for the tent mid-week cost €3,900.
It is understood ticket sales for the new event had been slack earlier this week, due to uncertainty over attendance by Cabinet and senior party members. However, sales had "improved significantly" in the last couple of days for the function.
Bus Éireann will be putting on extra public transport during the week, while the Garda Síochána will have traffic restrictions in place on the approaches to the racecourse to avoid congestion. Most city businesses will be tailoring working hours to suit the festival, and Galway County Council's offices will be closed to the public from 11am on Wednesday and Thursday.
However, the local authority has advertised arrangements for postbox delivery of material relating to its statutory functions, including planning applications. This follows criticism of it in a recent Ombudsman's report, where it was found an objector to a planning application missed the closing date for submissions because of the restricted office opening times during race week in 2003.
