Short-stay visits into Ireland are now temporarily banned from 11 South American countries and South Africa.
Visa-free travel ended at midnight and will remain until March 5th as part of government's plan to stop Covid-19 variants arriving.
Meanwhile the Taoiseach told his parliamentary party last night that people travelling for holidays will face tough sanctions.
Micheal Martin said 800 people arrived into Dublin Airport on Tuesday, and almost half were from holiday locations.
