Is Dublin Busy? The answer is now just a click away

A website promising to take some of the stress out of Christmas shopping in Dublin by offering real-time information on car and human traffic, parking, likely journey times and more besides has gone live.

The site, www.isdublinbusy.com, has pulled together streams of data already in the public domain including traffic cameras and tweets from official rail and bus accounts to provide a constantly updated flow of live information people can use to work out when they should and should not hit the shops.

The website also features statistical information on the best and worst times to try to buy your presents.

Using information gleaned from Dublin Business Improvement District, the site says Sundays live up to their reputation as a day of rest and are the least busy days in December to shop.

It won’t come as much of a surprise to learn that between 9am and 11am is the quietest part of the traditional 9am-6pm shopping day. During extended shopping periods, anytime after 8pm is quieter still.

The study challenges the traditional notion that December 8th is the busiest pre-Christmas shopping day. It is known - affectionately or otherwise - as “Culchie Shopping Day” by Dubliners. The dubious busiest day honour falls to December 19th.

Surprisingly, the quietest of the pre-Christmas shopping days is Christmas Eve. But for people reluctant to leave it until the last minute, the next quietest days of December, are the 2nd, 6th and 1st respectively.

The site is the brain child of advertising and branding agency In the Company of Huskies.

“Our head of data Lillian Gallagher came up with the idea to show how we can use data to solve a real life problem,” said spokesman Dan Nugent. “It’s a simple idea but it works.”