The St Patrick's bank holiday weekend is nearly over with many people set to return to work on Monday after a three-day break.
It was a busy weekend for celebrations - with St Patrick's Day events held nationwide on Friday, Ireland clinching the Six Nations grand slam after beating England on Saturday, and finally Mother's Day on Sunday.
After the long weekend, people are being reminded of the dangers of driving the morning after drinking.
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There are warnings that the morning after can be a particularly dangerous period for drink drivers. Gardai say this is reflected in the number of early-morning checkpoints they will be conducting.
Gardai say they will be out in force and on the lookout for four "lifesaver offences" - Driving under the influence, speed, non-wearing of seatbelts and mobile phone use.
A number of Mandatory Intoxicant Testing checkpoints have already been carried out this weekend. One driver stopped in Clane yesterday was found to be five times over the legal alcohol limit and is now facing court, gardai said.
Drinkaware, the national charity working to prevent and reduce alcohol misuse in Ireland, is encouraging the public to have a mindful St Patrick’s long weekend and keep roads safe.
Director of Communications for Drinkaware, Jennifer Flynn said: "Our mission at Drinkaware is to prevent and reduce the misuse of alcohol in Ireland. We want to provide people with practical information, tips and supports to help them stay safe during the long weekend. Whether that’s being more mindful if they are drinking alcohol, or the dangers of driving the morning after they have been drinking.
"It is important for the public to enjoy themselves but also to be aware of the dangers and how to minimise the risks. Keeping track of how many drinks you have had the night before means you can make informed decisions before getting behind the wheel of a car. Knowledge is power and we would encourage the public to make use of the Drinkaware drinks calculator and the information available from the RSA and An Garda Siochana to keep our roads safe."
According to Drinkaware, it takes at least one hour to process one standard drink . Examples of a standard drink are half a pint of beer, 100ml glass of wine, or a standard measure of spirits.
An average pint of beer equals two standard drinks. This means it will take your body two hours to process one pint of beer.
Drinkaware say the time starts from when the last drink is finished. For example, if a person finished three pints of beer at midnight, they will have consumed six standard drinks, this means they need six hours from midnight when they stopped drinking before their body will have processed the alcohol and they should not get behind the wheel of a car until 6am at the earliest.
Worried you could be over the limit after St Patrick's weekend? Drinkaware have an alcohol calculator that will tell you how long it will take to process the amount of drink you have.
6 pints of lager/stout
If you end up having 6 pints of Guinness, Heineken, Carlsberg or some other lager or stout in and around 4.5%, according to Drinkaware you can't drive for 12 hours after you finish your last drink.
So if you head to bed at midnight, you can't drive until noon the following day.
1 bottle of wine
If you polish off one bottle of red or white wine you will have to stay off the road for eight hours after you finish, according to Drinkaware.
8 gin and tonics
Drinking 8 gin and tonics would mean no driving for 8 hours after your final drink.
5 pints and 5 vodkas with mixers
Some people going for a proper wild night could be drinking pints in the house for the day before going to the pub and switching to vodka.
This one could have you feeling particularly bad the next day and that is reflected in how long you have to stay off the road.
According to Drinkaware, you will have to avoid driving for 15 hours after your last drink.
Calculate your own
Some of the numbers of drinks above are at very harmful levels.
These figures above are estimated amounts. The only way to remove alcohol from your system is time, no amount of food or water will speed up the process, say Drinkaware.
If you want to calculate your own, head on over to this drinkaware.ie page.
Binge drinking is defined as consuming 60 grams of pure alcohol - six or more standard drinks - in one sitting.
This is the equivalent of three pints of cider (568ml), six bottles of lager (330ml) or four glasses of prosecco (150ml).
There is more information on the low risk weekly alcohol guidelines on this drinkaware.ie webpage.
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