The MAT – Mandatory Alcohol Test – checkpoints follow eight arrests last weekend, three of them in Inishowen.
With hot weather forecast, gardaí are warning motorists not to risk their lives or the lives of others by getting behind the wheel after a drink and they have set up a number of planned operations this Bank Holiday weekend.
Traffic Corps gardaí will also be operating throughout the county between this evening and Monday night.
Checkpoints will operate during both day time and night time hours and follows a 14 per cent increase in the number of drink drivers arrested in Donegal this year; and follows a 30 per cent increase last year.
It also follows statistics from the Road Safety Authority that that alcohol was most frequently a factor in fatal crashes in almost 8 per cent of incidents in Donegal – the fourth highest in the country.
Transport Minister Shane Ross said the RSA study shows Ireland still has a problem with alcohol on the roads.
“The consequences are having a devastating effect in our communities,” he said.
“We must continue educating drivers, pedestrians, cyclists and passengers about the very real dangers and consequences of making the bad decision to use the road after consuming alcohol.”
The alarming research was released to coincide with the June Bank holiday – a mid-summer weekend which has seen 35 people killed and 85 seriously injured between 2007 and 2015.
Mr Ross added: “For some the temptation may be there but I would urge these people to think carefully about the choices they make. We know alcohol promotes risky and potentially life-threatening behaviour – not just among drivers, but among all road users.”
Moyagh Murdock, the agency’s chief executive, said the figures show the rate of alcohol-related road deaths is increasing.
“This is deeply worrying,” she said.
“While the majority of people in this country do the right thing, it is shocking to see that alcohol is still a significant factor.
“It shows that while we all understand in theory that we shouldn’t drink and drive or walk home drunk, we still have not fully eradicated the practice in Ireland, and even more harrowing was the sheer number of young people – young men in particular – who lost their lives on our roads as a result of alcohol.”