When Jonathan Walters slotted his 23rd minute penalty last night he sparked wild celebrations in the Aviva Stadium, and he also caused a spike in the prices of airfares between Dublin and Paris.
Eoghan Corry, editor of Travel Extra joined Newstalk Breakfast this morning, he said that the price of air fares, “went up the moment that the ball hit the net.”
This was the state of play at lunchtime today if you want to fly to Beauvais with Ryanair outside of the city on the eve of the tournament - with fares starting from €125.99.
Aer Lingus flights are significantly more expensive, beginning at €282.99 - but they bring you to central Paris.
As a location for a major tournament Mr Corry notes that France is the “most accessible” country for Irish fans - apart from a UK-based tournament.
The big positives are the strength of the basic transport links between the two countries - and France’s internal rail networks and motorways.
Irish Ferry quotes for one passenger in a car the day before Euro 2016 starts
He describes the country’s camping infrastructure as “unbelievable” if you are planning to go the tent and camper van route.
Catch up
Having gone through the qualifiers Irish fans are somewhat late to the party - especially since Northern Irish supporters have gotten a head start. They are expected to bring between 20,000 and 25,000 supporters to France.
Travel agents in countries who qualified directly have been block-booking hotels around France for the past few weeks.
Unlike traditional Euro tournaments, teams will not be assigned a base-city or region. So this could mean lengthy journeys between pool games.
Getting in
The key date for Ireland’s fans is December 12th when the draw for the group stage is made.
The games' dates and locations have already been decided for each spot in the draw.
For example if the Republic of Ireland is drawn as the fourth seed in Pool B - we would play our first match in Bordeaux and the second would be in Stade Pierre-Mauroy outside of Lille.
Then there’s the matter of match tickets...
Once the draw is made in December, Ireland’s fans will be able to buy tickets on UEFA’s Ticket Portal from December 14th. The system will be very similar to the one used to buy tickets for Euro 2012.
Prices range from €25 to €145 for group games.
