We all know the routine at this stage. Milling around shops, standing in queues and lugging the bags around town. Ordering a few bits online... in panic.

Irish adults now spend 2 days, 1 hour and 26 minutes (or 49 hours and 26 minutes) doing their Christmas shopping for family, friends and, now more than ever, their pets. The research, conducted by TK Maxx last Christmas found that as well as treating our spouses and family members, our pets are a top shopping priority with Irish people spending over €5million on their furry family member. At least we know an Irish mammy is always well looked after, with one in five Irish women naming their mum’s gift as the most important item on their list. And who says romance is dead? Over half of the Irish men surveyed will be putting the most thought into their partner’s parcel, spending on average 5 hours and 23 minutes looking for the perfect gift. For nearly all 1,000 participants (95 percent) they plan to do a lot of travelling over the festive period to visit immediate family, while munching on up to five Christmas dinners. We just hope there’s a gym membership as one of those stocking fillers in that case…