Hundreds of thousands of people are on the move as air, rail and ferry services report their busiest ever Christmas period.
Dublin, Cork and Shannon airports are expecting more than one million passengers between December 20th and January 6th, according to Aer Rianta.
Dublin Airport, which will handle over 900,000 passengers, said last weekend was its busiest period of the Christmas. Some 30,000 passengers arrived on Sunday alone.
It is also recording a sharp increase in numbers departing for sun and ski destinations, with 60 charter flights leaving last Saturday.
More than 77,000 passengers are expected through Cork Airport over Christmas, a 16 per cent increase over last year.
Shannon Airport is also predicting a busy time with over 95,000 passengers travelling, up 5 per cent from Christmas 2002.
Passengers travelling are advised not to wrap Christmas presents as they may by required to open them by airport security officials.
Iarnród Éireann is expecting to transport more than 400,000 people over the coming days.
It says normal services will be available for most of today although services will finish earlier than usual.
The last DART and commuter service will leave Dublin at 9 p.m., while inter-city services will also depart earlier than normal.
No train services will operate on Christmas Day or on St Stephen's Day, while train services between Connolly Station and Greystones will be cancelled between December 27th and January 4th.
Commuters are advised to contact their local station or log on to the Internet (www.irishrail.ie) for further information.
Bus Éireann and Dublin Bus expect to carry hundreds of thousands of passengers and have advised commuters to check with their local station or the Internet (www.buseireann.ie or www.dublinbus.ie) for further information.
Most weekday bus services will operate, although they will finish earlier than normal.
Expressway services will begin to cease from around 8.30 p.m onwards, while services on city, suburban and commuter routes will also terminate earlier than normal.
There will be no Bus Éireann or Dublin Bus services on Christmas Day. On Stephen's Day there will be a limited service on principal expressway routes, Cork suburban routes and the Limerick/ Shannon/Ennis routes.
Dublin Bus will also operate a Sunday service on all routes on December 26th. Normal Bus Éireann and Dublin Bus services, with some alterations and cancellations, will operate from December 27th to December 30th inclusive.
More opt to spend their holidays in sun and ski resorts
More people than ever before are foregoing the traditional Christmas at home to spend the holidays in the sun.
Between December 23rd and January 5th, 37,000 people will leave Ireland for warmer climates, an increase of an estimated 5 per cent on last year.
Extra flights have been put on this year to the most popular sun spot, the Canary Islands, where most are spending their Christmas.
Tenerife, Lanzarote, Gran Canaria and Fuerteventura are top of the list for destinations as they more or less guarantee continual sun at this time of year.
Five thousand other holidaymakers have opted to get away for a ski holiday where the main resorts are the French Alps, Switzerland and Austria.
Mr Brendan Moran, chief executive of the Irish Travel Agents Association, which represents retail travel agents and tour operators, said more people were going away for Christmas, but it was not necessarily breaking up the family.
"Families are going together," he said. "The idea of Christmas being in one household is loosening. The traditional family Christmas at home in Ireland is still strong but people are more willing to go abroad now.
"The most popular sun destination is Tenerife. There, you can be reasonably certain that the weather will be OK.
"The Canaries are more popular than the Costa del Sol because the weather is not always good there at this time of year," Mr Moran said.
The French Alps, Austria and Switzerland were the most popular destinations for skiing holidays, followed by Italy and newer destinations like Bulgaria.
Mr Niall McDonnell, president of the Irish Tour Operators Federation, which represents firms operating charter holidays, has reported the busiest Christmas and new year period to date.
Mr McDonnell, who is managing director of Panorama and Airtours Holidays, said his company had added an extra scheduled flight each to Lanzarote, Gran Canaria, and Fuerteventura.- Christine Newman
