Green Army on the march for French invasion at Euro 2016

The ‘Euro Exodus’ is under way as tens of thousands of Irish football fans make their way by air and sea to France for the European Championships.

Euro 2016 gets underway tonight as the host country faces Romania in the Stade de France - the stadium that will host the Republic of Ireland’s opening fixture against Sweden on Monday.

With Northern Ireland also taking part in the tournament, up to 100,000 fans are expected to leave the island to travel to the tournament.

Airlines and ferry companies have experienced increased demands from supporters seeking passage to France, with many journeys already underway.

Thousands of fans in cars and campervans congregated in Rosslare yesterday for a special send-off party organised by Today FM.

A spokesperson for Irish Ferries said the company will be looking to create an on-board “pitchside atmosphere for the fans from Rosslare to the games themselves. “All games will be shown on board so football fans will be able to follow any match being broadcast,” the spokesperson said.

“We also have a free cabaret with songs, dances and gags catered for football fans. There will be plenty for kids with a children’s cabaret also on earlier in the day,” he said.

A Brittany Ferries spokesperson said the company is fully booked for June. “Our sailings to and from France are booked out for the month of June. The fact that France is hosting the Euro 2016 tournament has led to an increase in sports fans travelling to cheer on Ireland especially this weekend,” a spokesperson said.

Stena Line has also reported a huge number of fans using their services to join their respective Green Armies in France

Thousands of fans will also make the journey by air, with extra flights put on to meet the need of the large travelling support.

Aer Lingus said it will carry close to 3,500 passengers out of Ireland to Paris this weekend alone. “With only a few days to go before the first Ireland game, most fans have already booked their fligh. However, we still have some seats left,” the airline said. “To meet the strong demand from soccer fans, Aer Lingus made 1,000 extra seats available to Paris coinciding with Ireland’s Euro 2016 opener against Sweden taking place in Paris on Monday.

“Aer Lingus will operate a larger Airbus A321 aircraft across eight flights – four outbound from Dublin to Paris on June 11 and four in-bound from Paris to Dublin on June 14 – and we have added four extra flights for the same dates. Aer Lingus also operates a daily service from Dublin to Bordeaux and on both June 17 and 18 we will operate an additional flight to Bordeaux as well an additional inbound flight from Bordeaux to Dublin on June 18 and 19.”

Ryanair has also added flights due to demand. “In addition to the 32 French airports we already fly to and from, we’ve added 90 special Euro 2016 flights, for fans travelling from Belgium, England, Ireland, Sweden and Wales,” a spokesperson for the airline said.

Meanwhile, four friends who are cycling over 500km from Dublin to Paris for the opening game against Sweden have raised over €16,000 in aid of Debra Ireland, Aware and Irish Cancer Society.

Cormac O’Keeffe, Tom Fox, Jonny Lane and James O’ Dwyer left Dublin for Rosslare earlier this week and got a ferry to Cherbourg where they set off for Paris on Wednesday.

To check their progress or to make a donation, see Cycle2Euro2016 on Facebook and Twitter.