A Wicklow councillor has appealed to the public to 'stay away,' after more than 100 people were handed down fines for venturing beyond their 5km restriction at the weekend.
That is almost triple the number of fines handed out nationwide up to Thursday, as part of new Garda powers in place since last Monday.
Gardaí say they also turned back over 200 vehicles after issuing a caution to drivers.
Irene Winters is a Fine Gael councillor in Wicklow.
She told Newstalk Breakfast they look forward to welcoming visitors back, when the pandemic is under control.
"I get it: it's a nice day and your children aren't going to soccer, they're not going to rugby, they're not going to GAA - any of the things you did - and you think 'we'll go up to the Wicklow Hills and we'll go for a walk'.
"Maybe they didn't realise the fines were coming in, but yeah."
She said what shocked her the most was the number of fines.
"Really the police here normally turn everybody back and just say 'Look, you're on a warning - go home'."
She appealed to people to stay home for the next few weeks.
"Wicklow is absolutely fantastic - we have mountains, we have scenery, we have the beach, we have forests, everything.
"But you can't use it at the moment, and we would be delighted to have everybody in Wicklow once the travel restrictions are over and the pandemic is is under some sort of control".
She said the only way things can return to relative normality "is if everybody really, really complies for the next couple of weeks.
"Stay away, stay home", she added.
