Irish motorists will be asked to leave their cars at home again this autumn as Ireland participates in the second European Car Free Day.
Ten Irish cities and towns, double the number involved last year, will ask residents to leave their cars in the drive on Saturday, September 22nd.
In an effort to raise awareness and reverse the trend in increasing private-vehicle commuting and declining public-transport use, Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick, Sligo, Waterford, Castlebar, Greystones, Dublin South and Clonmel will partici pate in the no-car day.
They will all have areas closed off to traffic other than public transport and some selected vehicles such as delivery vans and bicycles. Entertainment will be organised in those areas, and extra public transport will be provided. Announcing details in Cork yesterday, the Minister of State for the Environment, Mr Dan Wallace, said it would "reaffirm Ireland's commitment to the development of a cleaner, healthier urban environment".
Across Europe 700 cities participated in the car-free day last year, and this year an even higher number is expected. All the Irish towns and cities involved last year have opted to repeat the experiment.