An Garda Siochana has announced details of its traffic plan for the visit of Pope Francis to Knock.
The pontiff will be arriving on the morning of Sunday, August 26th, at Ireland West Airport, from where he will travel to the Marian Shrine.
Most of the traffic management plan concerns access to Ireland West Airport during the pope’s visit.
Passengers are advised to allow extra time for their journeys as there will be road diversions and closures on the N17.
The N17 from Charlestown to Claremorris will be closed from midnight on Saturday, August 25th until about 3 o’clock on Sunday afternoon.
For those travelling from Sligo, there will be a diversion for the airport at Charlestown.
There will also be diversions for those travelling from Castlebar, Claremorris and Ballaghaderreen.
The road to the airport will be closed on the Sunday for the arrival and departure of the pope.
The closure times, from the junction of the Shammer/Bushfield Road and the R376, are from 8:45am to 9:45am and from 10:45am to 11:30am.
Passengers are advised to plan more time for travelling and to arrive more than two hours before their flight time.
Gardai also say sat-nav instructions should be disregarded as these may lead motorists into road closures.
