The number of visitors to Ireland from Britain during the first three months of the year fell considerably when compared with the same period in 2016, while there was a jump in the number of trips from North America.
Latest figures from the Central Statistics Office show a 6.5% drop to 796,100 in visits from Britain, while the number of trips to Ireland by people in North America rose by nearly a quarter (23.2%) to 293,400.
This marked the second consecutive fall in the number of British visitors here since the Brexit vote last June.
Commenting on the fall in British visits, CEO of Tourism Ireland Niall Gibbons said: "The drop in the value of sterling has made holidays and short breaks here more expensive for British visitors; and economic uncertainty is making British travellers more cautious about their discretionary spending.
"This is impacting on travel to Ireland. We will continue to monitor developments around Brexit closely, to better understand and plan for its implications and will be meeting tourism industry leaders again next week.
"Competitiveness and value for money will be a more important message than ever throughout 2017."
However, Mr Gibbons welcomed the "continued strong performance from North America".
He said Tourism Ireland has "prioritised North America for 2017, as a market which offers a strong return on investment, in terms of holiday visitors and expenditure.
"A number of factors are working in our favour, including more airline seats than ever, from more gateways across the US and Canada."
The CSO figures also show there was a slight fall in visitor numbers from European countries other than the United Kingdom, with a 0.6% fall to 595,000.
Overall during the first quarter, the total number of trips to Ireland year-on-year inched up by 0.6% to 1,796,200.
The statistics indicate the number of overseas trips made by Irish residents between January and March increased by 6.2% to 1,568,700.
