Three days into their marathon sleep-over outside Budget Travel in Baggot Street, Dublin, the Liberties Ladies are still in good voice.
We're all going on a Budget holiday, they sing. No more working for a week or two . . .
Ms Val O'Neill, the most vocal of the group, breaks away momentarily to remark with a smile: "We sure know how to work for it, don't we?"
They sure do. Along with five other women from Pimlico in the Liberties, she has been camping outside the travel outlet since 7.30 p.m. last Sunday in a vigil due to end at 9 a.m. this morning when Budget's Summer 2002 sale begins.
"Nothing has been guaranteed to us," says Ms O'Neill. "But they said they'd do their best."
"Doing their best", she hopes, will mean a free holiday for her, her husband and three children in Lanzarote. And if Budget's track record is anything to go by she won't be disappointed.
A spokeswoman for the tour operator said it did not encourage people to queue for so long for its annual sale. Nor did it promise them free holidays. "However, we generally tend to look after them," she said.
Huddling under a sleeping bag in a woolly hat and scarf, Ms O'Neill noted: "This is my third year doing this. It's tough going, but if it pays for another holiday it'll be worth it."
One of her neighbours from Pimlico, who did not wish to be named as, she said, "I'm meant to be at work", was finding the going a little tougher.
"It's my first year, and it's going to be my last. It just makes me realise how hard it must be for the homeless," she said.
A total of 19 people have been queueing outside the outlet since Sunday night. A 20th - "a man," Ms O'Neill gleefully reports - gave up on New Year's Day. "That's the weaker sex for you," joked one of her colleagues.
The happy campers have enjoyed the hospitality of Baggot Street traders during their 86-hour vigil. Toner's pub has lent them its bathroom facilities while other shops have provided sandwiches and tea.
They have even become something of a tourist attraction, as proved by the arrival early yesterday of a young female photographer.
"Who are you with?" someone asked, expecting her to reply with the name of a newspaper.
"Oh no," she said. "I'm on my holidays."
Minutes later, a passing Dublin tour bus sounded its horn. The driver could be heard explaining to bemused foreigners the nature of the street encampment.
"The Americans don't believe us when we tell them what we're doing. They think we're on a protest, or doing it for charity," said Ms O'Neill.
Budget's sale prices begin at €99 per person for one week in Spain in May, and €459 for a family of two adults and a child. The company said it expected many of the special offers to be sold out by 10 a.m.
Purchases can be made at one of Budget's 30 travel shops, or from 400 travel agents throughout the country.
