Fiachra Gallagher

Roughly 432,000 people will pass through Dublin Airport over St Patrick’s Day weekend, according to data released by Dublin Airport Authority (daa).

With the annual national holiday falling on a Friday this year, many people are availing of the three-day weekend to take a trip abroad — 220,000 passengers are forecast to depart from Dublin between Thursday and Monday.

Many will travel to Dublin and beyond for the long weekend, too. Events like Dublin’s St Patrick’s Day festival and the Six Nations clash between England and Ireland are contributing factors to a forecast of 212,000 passengers flying to Dublin for the weekend.

In conjunction with Failte Ireland, daa is planning St Patrick’s Day festivities at the airport — a number of Irish dancing groups will entertain passengers at arrivals.

The airport is advising passengers travelling on short-haul flights to arrive two hours prior to their scheduled time, or three hours ahead of a long-haul flight.