Brexit worries have been blamed for a drop in the number of British tourists visiting Ireland in August.
New figures released by the Central Statistics Office show that the number of overseas visitors has decreased to 1,190,600 - a decline of 1% on the same twelve months ago.
Trips made by residents of Great Britain represented the largest decrease, dropping by 2.7% to 393,900.
Tourism Ireland chiefs have cited a rise in the value of sterling and uncertainties surrounding Brexit for the fall-off.
Residents of USA and Canada also made fewer trips here when compared to last year, with the total figure dropping by 1.5% to 282,500.
Trips by residents of European countries other than Great Britain increased by 0.2% to 427,900, while trips to Ireland from 'Other Areas' increased by 3.7% to 86,300.
Speaking on Thursday, Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland, said: "Today’s figures from the CSO indicate that overseas arrivals increased by +2.2% in the first eight months of 2019, around 159,100 more than in January-August 2018.
"However, the month of August alone has shown a continuing weak trend, with a fall of -1%.
“The figures for January to August indicate a very mixed picture – with arrivals from Britain flat, a modest performance from Mainland Europe (almost +2%) and with arrivals from North America up +5% and from long-haul markets up +6.6%.
"However, North America is showing a weaker pattern as the year unfolds – down -1.5% for the month of August.
“The figures underline a continuing weak trend and reflect feedback from industry partners on the ground who have been experiencing weaker demand and have expressed concern for the remainder of 2019 and beyond.
"The uncertainty around Brexit is an ongoing challenge, giving rise to consumer concern in Britain and some Mainland European markets.
"The fall in the value of sterling has made holidays here more expensive for British visitors – and has made Britain more affordable for visitors from many of our top source markets.
"We will continue to monitor the situation closely with our industry colleagues."
Meanwhile, the total number of overseas trips made by Irish residents during August 2019 increased by 11.9% to 973,600.
The total number of trips (Irish residents’ trips overseas plus trips to Ireland) in August 2019 increased by 4.4% to 2,164,200 when compared to twelve months earlier.
In the eight months to the end of August 2019, the total number of trips to Ireland increased by 2.2% when compared with the same period in 2018.
Irish residents' trips overseas during the same period increased by 8.0%.
