Motorists urged to use caution as bank holiday exodus begins

With hopeful bank holidaymakers chasing the sun, trotting after the horses or following their favourite teams, traffic will be extremely heavy over the busiest weekend of the year.

The traditional bank holiday mass exodus from the capital and other cities will get under way from lunchtime today and will continue until after lunch tomorrow.

"The big rush of people leaving work will start about lunchtime. Motorists can expect delays on all the key routes from then," said Ms Emma Caulfield, of AA Roadwatch.

Traffic in Dublin tends to die down from 7 p.m., she said, but is likely to remain heavy for most of the evening on the N7 through Kildare and Monasterevin, the N8 through Fermoy and Mitchelstown, and all roads north of Dublin heading to Cavan and Belfast.

The Enfield bypass will be particularly hectic, with punters heading for the last few days of the Galway Races. The first race today is at 5 p.m. Racing tomorrow and on Sunday begins at 2.30 p.m. and finishes at 5 p.m. The racecourse is approximately three miles from Galway city and gates will open 2½ hours before the first race each day. All routes to the racecourse are clearly marked by AA signs.

Two Tall Ships sailed into Dublin Bay and up the River Liffey yesterday. The Earl of Pembroke is making its first voyage in Irish waters, while the Kaskelot paid a visit here for the Millennium celebrations.

Both ships will be docked at City Quay until Monday and are open to the public at a cost of €5. Two-hour sailing trips around Dublin Bay are available on one of the vessels, departing twice daily - at 10 a.m. and 2.30 p.m. Numbers are limited to 50 per trip and the cost is €25 for adults and €10 for children.

For football fans, all roads lead to Dublin on Sunday and Monday for the All-Ireland football quarter-finals in Croke Park.

On Sunday, more than 65,000 spectators will attend the Sligo v Armagh and Kerry v Galway matches, with kick-off times of 2.30 p.m. and 4.15 p.m., respectively. Tickets will be on sale at Croke Park today. With a 78,000 capacity crowd expected, Monday's matches - Cork v Mayo and Dublin v Donegal - are sold out.

Many non-sporting types are expected at the Waterford Spraoi Festival, which starts today and continues until Sunday. Féile an Phobal also starts in Belfast this weekend.

AA Roadwatch urges motorists to drive with dipped headlights during the weekend. There have been 21 road deaths over the four bank holiday weekends so far this year.

People heading for or staying put in Munster and Leinster will endure some "fairly substantial" falls of rain today and tomorrow, according to Met Éireann.

"Most of the rain will be in south Leinster and east Munster," said Dr Aidan Nulty, of Met Éireann. "It may not rain continuously, but the rain will hang around until Saturday."

The rest of the country will experience some light showers, but for the most part it should stay reasonably dry, Dr Nulty said.