Camden Street Cake Café, Liston’s, Green Nineteen, Anseo, Décor, Daintree, and not a British chain store in sight

Camden StreetCake Café, Liston's, Green Nineteen, Anseo, Décor, Daintree, and not a British chain store in sight. This stretch has the hippest indie outfits in town.

Aer Lingus cabin crewThey don't make them like that anymore with the glam make-up and take-no-prisoners "doors-to-manual!" Irish mammy school of deportment.

Fake criticsSlowly write in a notebook the next time you're waiting for a table in a restaurant: "Service bad". Keep scribbling during the meal and see how they jump.

Waterford CrystalIt's still the middle-class status symbol. We're not socially insecure, we're patriotic. The music of these clinking glasses never goes out of fashion.

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SwiffersForget battery operated dust busters. Log onto swiffer.com to see how these simply, but effectively, zap dust. They are magic wands for us happy homemakers.

Dublin Bus cutbacks. The Greens in Government should be ashamed. They'll agree to subsidising the banks, but abandon developing an all-important, joined-up public transport system. Farewell mid-week Nitelinks. Night owls from outside the inner city will now have to cough up a fortune for a taxi home.

Social photographsIn ready-made bow ties and strapless gowns, they smile blindly into the economic abyss like the happy "before" scenes of Cloverfield.

The Pink Panther 2Steve Martin is coming back as Clouseau and John Cleese as Dreyfus? No-one could replace Peter Sellers.

Price-less boutiquesIf you want us to believe something is reduced, show us the original tag.

Busted britchesToo many torn size 6 Karen Millen and Ralph Lauren items in discount outlets. Prices may be magic, but the laws of physics are not.

Quentin Fottrell