IRELAND WAS A very different place just ten years ago.
1. Enda Kenny and George hook were promoting recycling as some sort of environmental breakthrough
2. The Brown Thomas Christmas window looked something like this
3. Enya sang at Christchurch Cathedral in the ‘Most Irish Thing That Ever Happened’
4. And Bertie Ahern joined a local choir to sing carols
5. But he wasn’t that loved, as seen by this Christmas card signed by supports of People Before Profit Alliance and presented to him at the Mahon Tribunal in Dublin Castle
6. Pippa and Co were in the Christmas markets freezing themselves for Photocalls
7. People were still queuing for Cleary’s sales bright and early on St. Stephen’s Day
8. The energy they must have had
9. Mary McAleese was President
10. And the stalls of Henry Street were still the same
11. The streets wouldn’t be as buzzy as this for years after
12. We can rely on the Arnotts’ Santa to be there for us every time
13. Just like the big bags of Smyths toys, a sure sign that Christmas has arrived in Dublin
