GARDAÍ HAVE warned that their clampdown on people who drink and drive will continue day and night over the remainder of the holiday period.
Extra patrols have been put in place across the State. In just one three-hour period in Dublin last Friday night, some 2,400 drivers were stopped and seven were arrested for drunken driving.
"We think people are getting the message," a Garda spokesman said, "but there are always a few who don't and we will be targeting them."
Even passengers getting off early morning flights at Shannon airport and picking up their cars to travel onwards found themselves being breathalysed this weekend.
Details of the total numbers arrested across the State in the current blitz against drink driving are not expected to be made available for a few days.
Garda patrols are also clamping down on speeding motorists.
Meanwhile, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has appealed to motorists to drive with care during the St Patrick's and Easter festivities.
In a statement, he said: "As we approach both the St Patrick's weekend and the following Easter weekend, it is crucial that we emphasise the message to never, ever drink and drive. I would urge all those who use our roads to exercise extra caution, particularly over the coming bank holiday period, when thousands of extra journeys will be made by car and road users travelling on unfamiliar roads."
He said the Government was working hard to reduce road deaths and injuries but ultimately it was a matter for individual road users.
Garda statistics show 71 people have been killed on the roads so far this year, up 15 on the same period in 2007.