Just over a quarter of Irish people are likely to drive home for Christmas in the coming days as restrictions on inter-county travel are lifted, according to a recent survey.
The survey of over 5,000 Irish motorists was carried out by AA Ireland and found the majority intend to remain in their county as travel restrictions are loosened for the festive period.
15.92 per cent of survey respondents said they were “very likely” to travel outside of the county in which they live to spend Christmas or New Years with family.
Meanwhile, a further 10.05 per cent indicated that they were “somewhat likely” to do so.
Of those planning to avoid Christmas travel, 8.79 per cent said they were “very likely” to be visited by family members from another county, while a further nine per cent said this was “somewhat likely” to be true for them.
Mass exodus
“The lead-up to Christmas is always a busy time of the roads, with many of us doing our best Chris Rea impersonation and travelling across the country for the holiday,” Conor Faughnan of the AA said.
“Despite the Covid-factor it does appear that this year is likely to be similar in terms of the number of people travelling, albeit that the journeys may be a bit more spread out.
“In previous years we would have seen a mass exodus out of our major cities on the 23rd and the 24th, but with most of us now working from home it’s likely that the exit will be more phased out this year.”
The majority of those surveyed said they planned on limiting any visits to immediate family as a result of Covid-19.
59.21 per cent said they were “very likely” to limit any household visits they made between Christmas and New Years to immediate family, while a further 20.30 per cent said they were “somewhat likely” to do so.
“If you are among those travelling, we would encourage you to check weather and traffic conditions before you depart and to also give your car a quick once-over to make sure it’s ready for road,” Mr Faughnan said.
“Between Christmas Eve and St Stephen’s Day last year, our AA patrols attended to over 500 breakdowns – a figure which could be even higher this year as this is likely to be the first lengthy journey that many of us have taken in months.”
