Despite the recession, retailers are cautiously optimistic about sales in the lead-up to Christmas.
The Central Bank of Ireland says there is £700 million in cash in people's pockets this Christmas. This year, electronic television games are a big seller, but the old reliables are still popular
Jewellery and perfume for women and clothes and aftershave for men.
Despite the recession, there is money to be spent, but is Christmas living up to the expectation of traders around the country?
In Dublin, Switzers general manager Tom Rea is cautiously optimistic,
Christmas at the moment is going reasonably well.
He has high hopes for spending until the close of business on Christmas Eve.
In Belfast, retailers are hoping Christmas trade will be equal to that of 1979. Possibly a reflection of the rise in unemployment, spending is steering away from high-end items. One area doing well is a newly opened craft shop, the first in Belfast to sell work from makers all over Northern Ireland.
In Cork, reports show that despite the recession, Christmas spending is buoyant.
The tradition effort to have a good one is being made amid the prophecies of doom and gloom.
There is plenty of demand for Christmas trees and decorations. Many traders reducing prices to attract shoppers.
In Galway retailers are experiencing a bonanza. Reports predict a spending spree amounting to £20 million in the final shopping days before Christmas. Many families are purchasing toys and high end electrical and household goods.
The shelves are being emptied faster than ever before.
There is another side to the apparent spending spree around the country. One in five families is living in poverty, without the money to buy even the smallest item on a child's Christmas wish list. In the past, Columba Faulkner of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul (SVP) has seen parents scrimping and saving to buy toys, but this year it is not possible. For the first time in her 10 years with the SVP Columba Faulkner was told by a child,
I believe Santy doesn't have much money.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 19 December 1980. The reporter in Dublin is Liam Cahill. The reporter in Belfast is Cathal Mac Coille. The reporter in Cork is Tom MacSweeney. The reporter in Galway is Jim Fahy.
