Outside of Dublin, Car-Free Day began with little to distinguish it from any other "wet Monday morning in September" according to the AA. Tim O'Brien reports.
Across the State major traffic delays were experienced in all the usual spots approaching the regional cities but especially in Galway and Limerick.
Some 21 centres participated in the event. But many big centres such as Cork city had opted out. Clonakilty was the only town in Co Cork to take part.
In Galway's Eyre Square, half the traffic lanes were pedestrianised, leading to long tail-backs, while in Limerick and Waterford cities, street closures were also blamed for unusually high traffic congestion.
Bus Éireann said it had offered free off-peak travel in Cork, Waterford, Limerick and Galway.
However, the company saw "little sense" in offering free peak-time travel as "those seats are full anyway".
In Athlone, Mr Healy Hynes, a recent past president of the chamber of commerce, said the closure of Lloyds Lane, Church Street and Dublin Gate Street had "worked very well and did not cause any major upset".
There were music bands playing in the closed streets but the public were still able to access the car-parks in the centre of town without disruption, he said.
Few Galway drivers opted to leave their cars at home for the day and the traffic was particularly heavy with congestion on many of the main routes into the city.
However, Mr Conor Faughnan of AA Roadwatch attributed the heavy traffic leading into Galway and the other main cities around the country to the bad weather and not to the car-free initiative.