Sign up to The Irish Times Archive (1859 - 2008)My Account »

The number of foreign holidays taken by people during the final three months of last year fell by more than 9 per cent, and those that did get away spent less than in previous years and took shorter breaks, according to new statistics released today.

Data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) shows that overall, 1,710,000 trips were taken abroad during the months October through to December, down 4.5 per cent compared to the same period a year earlier. Of these trips, 1,023,000 were classed as holidays.