A total of 17 Irish towns and cities will join the rest of Europe in a car-free day on Monday.
But continuing and widespread roadworks in the centre of Dublin - designed to free traffic conditions in the long term - mean that none of the city's major streets can be closed to vehicles to mark Monday's event, and for local motorists generally, it has all become something of a cult joke.
At the centre of Dublin's congestion problems is the construction of the Luas, a light-rail link to the suburbs that is not now due to start operating until next year.
For months past - and more to come - the building operation has clogged up driving conditions because of excavations, and a spokesman for Dublin City Council admitted this weekend that street closures implemented to coincide with previous European Union car-free days could, this time, be "catastrophic for traffic in the city centre".
Instead the corporation is to stage street party tomorrow - 24 hours ahead of the actual event - which will be opened by Lord Mayor Royston Brady. The civic leader will afterwards cycle along a traffic-free city centre thoroughfare to encourage people to "get on their bike".
But Dublin bus passengers will on Monday be able to avail themselves of free journeys over a period and get tickets for a future promotion.
Bus users in other towns and cities, including Cork, Galway, Limerick, Waterford, Athlone and Sligo, will also get free travel.
There will be no free rail trips, though. Instead, the Irish Rail company is signalling the occasion by launching a series of guides to its car parking and bicycle facilities for commuter rail passengers.