Shoppers out to haggle and hunt for value at RDS craft and design fair

WHETHER YOU call it negotiating, haggling or bargaining, most of the visitors yesterday at the opening day of the National Crafts and Design Fair at the RDS were hard at it.

"Nothing here is a necessity," admitted Eoin Malone, looking around at stalls crammed with mirrors, scarves, bags, pieces of pottery, prints, jewellery, pots of jam and furniture. "I won't be buying anything unless I think it's good value and a fair price. I'll definitely be asking to make a deal."

At Florrie Purcell's chutney, relish and Christmas pudding stall, The Scullery, which was crowded with people eagerly sampling her goods, she admitted her prices were lower than last year. This year, her pudding is selling for €14, where last year it was €18. "People want quality, but they are also haggling, and I have to give them deals," she said.

The RDS filled up quickly with people searching for unusual or hand-made Christmas gifts.

One of those different items was "Doggie Soap" on Siobhan Pringle's stall of hand creams, soaps and bath salts, all made from natural products. At €6 for a small bar of tea tree and lavender-scented soap targeted at dogs, was she selling many? "I am, but I do sell it to some people who say they'll use it themselves," she admitted.

Most people were doing a couple of rounds of the hall first before deciding to buy anything. "Any little luxury at all, I'd have to really think about buying it," said one woman wistfully examining jewellery, who was reluctant to give her name. "My husband lost his job this year, and I don't want people knowing we're short on money," she explained.

"I'm very conscious of what I'm spending," confessed Margaret Gath, whose only purchase of the day was a €25 knitted scarf.

"And while there's some beautiful stuff here, there's also some awful junk," she added.

The fair still does have its annual quota of lurid pottery, terrible artwork and earnest knitwear, but there's also plenty of stalls showcasing exceptional examples of Irish craftsmanship.

Wicklow-based silversmith Brian Clarke's stall was displaying tiny silver teapots holding exactly one and half cups, modernist candlesticks, and exquisite boxes set with glass enamel. Noel Donnelly, from Caherdaniel in Co Kerry, had a stall called Buoy oh Buoy, with imaginative indoor and outdoor lights made from salvaged metal buoys.

Father and son cabinet-makers Don and Eamonn O'Sullivan were showing samples of their bespoke heirloom furniture; dressers, wardrobes and three legged stools in beech, oak and sycamore.

Eddie Doherty, one of the last traditional handweavers in Donegal, had piles of jewel-coloured woollen rugs, shawls and scarves. "I've been weaving since 1956, and I should really be retired by now," he said ruefully, "but I'll probably be here next year too."

The National Crafts and Design Fair runs at the RDS until Sunday.