THERE has been a massive leap in the number of people coming into Ireland from overseas in the last month.
Despite strict Covid-19 travel restrictions still being in place, the amount of people entering the country rose by nearly 60% in August, according to figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
A total of 362,600 people travelled to Ireland, compared to 227,300 people in July - an increase of 59.5%.
The majority of passengers (112,600) came into Ireland from the UK, while 33,600 people arrived from Spain, 31,700 came from Poland and 27,300 travelled to Ireland from Italy.
There was also an increase in the number of passengers leaving the country, with 328,200 in August compared to 275,400 in July.
Most people leaving Ireland meanwhile went to the same countries. Some 125,400 people left for the UK, 23,900 people headed to Poland and 23,300 headed to Italy.
Ireland's green list has been in place since the start of the summer - which notes the countries people can travel to without having to self-isolate when they return.
Anyone travelling in from a country not on the list must self-isolate for 14 days once they touch down.
Despite the recent increase in traffic into Ireland, figures from the entirety of 2020 are down significantly from 2019 due to the global pandemic.
So far this year, 3,776,600 people have arrived in Ireland from overseas and 3,776,900 people have left.
This represents decreases of 72.7% and 72.8% respectively compared to the same period in 2019.
