Bitter winds and wintry showers gave a cold start to the Easter holiday weekend yesterday. Heavy flooding on the east coast caused traffic chaos, and the entire country woke to icy conditions, which made roads treacherous.
The body of a Dublin man, who went missing on Killiney beach two days ago, was found early yesterday. Mr Adam Dunphy (27), from Bayview Close, Killiney, drowned while walking his dog in stormy weather on Thursday afternoon. A freelance sports reporter with the Irish Independent and Evening Herald, Mr Dunphy was a nephew of the journalist and broadcaster, Eamon Dunphy.
The weather will remain much the same throughout the weekend, according to Met Eireann, with winds from the north or northwest, occasional sunny patches, and outbreaks of sleet or snow, particularly on high ground. Temperatures will remain between 69 degrees Celsius, falling below zero at night.
Dublin had accidents as a result of icy road conditions at the Chapelizod by-pass, on the Swords Road, the Portmarnock road and on the Lucan-Newcastle road. Ice was reported on the Grange Road, the Stillorgan Road at Foxrock church, and on the Glencullen Road.
An inch of snow fell in Kerry at Ballyvarney, and light snow fell in parts of Cork, Galway, Tipperary and Donegal. The wintry conditions caused disruptions and delays at ferry ports. Stena Line's HSS service ran two hours behind schedule. The line expects to carry 60,000 passengers and 6,000 vehicles during the weekend.
Irish Ferries expects to carry about 32,000 passengers and 5,750 vehicles between Dublin and Rosslare. Their route from Rosslare to France expects 6,000 passengers and 1,500 vehicles.
Bus Eireann will carry 100,000 passengers this weekend on its Expressway and provincial services. Normal Sunday services will operate tomorrow. Some services for returning weekend travellers have been cancelled.
On Monday services will run as on Sundays, with some alterations and extra services for people returning to main centres in the evening.
Aer Rianta expects recordbreaking passenger figures for Dublin, Cork and Shannon Airports. The airports expect a total of 209,000 passengers, representing a 19 per cent increase on last year for Dublin, having a 7 per cent increase for Shannon, and 4 per cent for Cork.
Aer Lingus will carry 110,000 passengers this weekend, an increase of 27 per cent on last year.
Rail Travel
DART services are being disrupted today, tomorrow and Monday because of work on the Barrow Street bridge. There will be no service between Pearse Street and Lansdowne Road from 11.30 a.m. today until 2 p.m. on Monday. A limited bus service will operate.
Iarnrod Eireann will carry 250,000 passengers on Intercity trains, running 40 special trains in addition to the regular timetable. Engineering works between Bray and Wicklow will interrupt train services to Rosslare Europort from 1 p.m. today and will continue until Monday morning. Passengers will be carried by bus from Connolly to Wicklow station, with the exception of the 13.33 Connolly to Rosslare Europort today, with bus transfer from Connolly to Bray.
Road Travel
A rally in Portlaoise at 3 p.m. today for the local General Hospital will mean traffic diversions from 2.30 until 4.30 p.m.
In Dublin, Parnell Street and Wolfe Tone Street will be closed until midnight to facilitate the dismantling of a crane. Traffic disruption is expected. Barrow Street is closed until 7 a.m. on Wednesday for repairs to the railway bridge. Roadworks continue until monday on Beach Road. The Ha'penny Bridge will be closed from 11.30 a.m. until 1.30 p.m. today for the Gannon Cup University Boat Races.
Road traffic information sup- plied by AA Roadwatch and Dublin Corporation Traffic Control and Management Division