Retailers across the country have reported steady trade for the annual St Stephen's Day sales today.
Many shoppers are returning to stores in person, but online sales are continuing to hold up too.
Damien Deasy, General Manager with Brown Thomas Arnotts, said there was a queue of more than 70 people outside Brown Thomas on Grafton Street when it opened at 10am.
Around 50 people had queued at Arnotts on Henry Street in Dublin.
There were also reports of queues in Cork, Limerick, Galway and at the branch of Brown Thomas in Dundrum, Co Dublin.
"We wouldn't be back where we were in 2019, but we're not far off, " said Mr Deasy.
He said menswear was their busiest department this morning, which would be typical.
Mr Deasy said beauty was also busy, with some women looking for presents that had not been left under the tree.
While weather warnings are in place for ice today, he added that: "This is great shopping weather.
"It's dry, there's a bit of a chill in the air. It will bring customers out who want to get indoors and hopefully shop."
First in the queue at Arnotts in Dublin this morning were sisters Aimee and Ashlee Keogh from Tallaght.
"I'm hoping to get make-up sets because they’re usually on sale," said Aimee.
"We mostly got money off our family this year, so we’re coming in to spend it, it’s a tradition."
The family said they were up at the "crack of dawn" for the sales this year.
Their dad Adam said: "It's a tradition for us to come into town at Christmastime and it’s just getting back to normal.
"The last two years with the pandemic were difficult, so we’re here extra early for the bargains."
He said things had seemed quiet in Dublin city this morning but that they began to pick up as the morning went on.
Charity shops urging people to donate unwanted Christmas gifts
Charity shops including Oxfam Ireland are urging people to donate their unwanted Christmas gifts from tomorrow, when their stores re-open across the country.
Focus Ireland, which works with the homeless is also welcoming donations of warm clothing including any extra new hats, pairs of socks and scarves, which are particularly valued during cold spells.
However, St Mary's Pro Catherdal in Dublin said its unwanted gift appeal has been discontinued this year and it is urging people not to leave gifts at the cathedral, but instead to donate financial support to Crosscare and its Christmas Food Poverty campaign.
"We're really appealing to the public's generosity at this time to ask them that if they've received any unwanted gifts that they think may not suit them or may not fit or they just don't want them, that they pop them into the nearest Oxfam shop," said the charity's Director of Trading Trevor Anderson.
He said regifting and buying from charity shops is taking off more than ever this year.
"2022 has been record-breaking for us, it's been our busiest and most profitable year, for many, many years.
"Post-Covid, we've seen our footfall increasing, particularly from young people, so people are starting to move away from traditional shopping and making a conscious decision to shop in charity shops, second-hand shops and vintage shops, because that's what they feel is the right thing to do. With the cost of living crisis it is also a way of buying goods at more affordable prices."
Sales shoppers on Dublin's Grafton Street were divided today as to whether they would donate unwanted gifts. One woman said: "I think any gift requires some thought to it and some level of personal affection towards someone, so even if it was something I wouldn't use or necessarily like, I'd keep it just for the sentiment of it."
One mother was urging her son to donate some duplicate Lego sets he got this Christmas: "I think kids get loads, between family, between friends. Only the first few presents, they are excited to open up," she said.
Her son said: "I think [people] should donate more," but he said he would like to keep hold of his Lego sets.
Another woman who was visiting her daughter in Dublin said: "I think we have to buy less and give more for charity."
