Dublin has become a very international city. So beside the traditional Irish goods from whiskey to linens, tweeds and Aran sweaters, cut glass crystal from Waterford, Tipperary or Tyrone, or china from Belleek and Royal Tara, you will find a host of newly designed Irish goods: jewellery, clothing from new Irish designers and art from emerging young artists.

The Liffey divides the city into north and south. The division for shopping in the city used to be more obvious, with the south for smarter, more sophisticated shoppers. Nowadays, with urban renewal schemes, this has changed and the northside has become more fashionable.

O’Connell Street, the city’s widest street is undergoing a major facelift, which it is hoped will rejuvenate the area even more. Here you will find Clery’s a huge department store with four floors. Its original facade remains the same since 1941 when it opened and ‘under the clock at Clery’s’ has been a famous meeting point since then.

Eason’s bookshop is across the street and stocks a vast array of books, magazines, newspapers etc. Off O’Connell Street, at the GPO, are Henry Street and Mary Street. Famed for their street sellers, it is here you will hear the most genuine Dublin accents - “ten for a powend de benanas’. You will also meet many people who have spent their lives on these stalls and get up as early as 4.30am to go to the harbour to get the freshest fish and other produce for their customers. The pedestrianised streets are lined with most of the major UK high street stores. Arnotts is the flagship department store on Henry Street. It has been redesigned and houses lots of interesting designers.