People should withdraw enough money on December 31st to see them through New Year's Day when cash machines will be closed for the installation of euro notes, Bank of Ireland has warned.

It suggests laser cards are the best way initially to make purchases using the new currency and it urges customers to use only a euro cheque book after January 1st to avoid confusion and unnecessary expense.

Bank of Ireland will shut down its 470-plus ATMs at 1.30 a.m. on January 1st. Most are expected to be fully operational again by 5 p.m. but some at its busiest sites will re-open as early as 6 a.m. dispensing euro notes. The bank would normally process about 150,000 cash withdrawals on New Year's Day but expects greater demand this year.

For the first 10 days, its machines will give out mainly €10 and €20 notes with €50 notes being made available from mid-January. Mr Brendan Whelan, director of retail operations at Bank of Ireland, said yesterday a laser card offered the most straightforward way for consumers and retailers to make purchases, particularly in the first few days after the changeover. There are an estimated 900,000 laser cards used by bank customers in the Republic.

People using cheque books are being advised to use a euro-denominated cheque book after January 1st. Some 600,000 euro cheque books have been issued.

A primary concern for the bank is that customers will continue to use their old cheque books and substitute the euro symbol for the pound. Where the bank receives such "defaced" cheques they will be automatically returned to that customer who will incur the standard fee of around £8 - or €10 - for each one. The bank claims this is to prevent fraud.

Cheques written before the changeover will be honoured once they are lodged within six months.

But even with a euro cheque book, it will not be feasible to use it to make payments while abroad.

Because of the differing domestic clearing arrangements, someone given a personal euro cheque could find it takes a long time to get value for it in another jurisdiction and it is likely to carry high transaction fees. According to Bank of Ireland, customers will still have to buy euro traveller's cheques when going abroad.

Customers can send in their old cheque books to the Bank of Ireland and will be refunded 7p for each unused cheque. It will donate this money to the Special Olympics Fund if customers so choose.