A very Irish coop

Vodka and cokes all round, raucous laughter, a white veil, an L-plate, a bar of soap shaped in the shape of a smiling sperm cell. Welcome to the Costa del Dublin for an English hen weekend. "This isn't going to be anything like that Ibiza programme is it?" asks one of the 12 twentysomethings from Surrey, looking a bit worried. The unzipped-fly-on-the-wall look at young Brits on holiday was not quite the image she wanted.

So why did they chose Dublin and not Blackpool for the hen weekend? "The boys are in Amsterdam, and we wanted to prove that anything they could do we could do better," says Anne-Marie Khouri, who organised the trip for her future sister-in-law, Suzy (25). None of the 12 had been to Dublin before. They also wanted a bit of culture she says, handing me a copy of the printed itinerary. It becomes clear that this is not just a hen party. This is a military operation. The gruelling schedule includes breakfast at 9 a.m. the morning after the first night followed by an afternoon Adventure Game. One of the tasks is for four of the party to "kiss a policeman".

Where English stags led it appears the hens have followed. The veil and L-plate bedecked "saaf Landoners" are just the most visible elements of the tourist wave. The dogs in the streets of Peckham know that Dublin is hip. And Bord Failte proudly declares that it is the most popular short-break destination in Europe.

An average of ??? British tourists are taking weekend breaks in Dublin. One third of the tourists who come to Dublin are from Britain. Anne-Marie's group arrived on a Friday morning, booked into two B&Bs in Sandymount and gravitated straight to Temple Bar, having heard about it from other friends, including stag-party-goers from London.

"We wanted to go somewhere different. Dublin's got this impression of being really fun and lively." Which about sums up the group themselves. There is nothing understated about them. They draw curious stares from the other drinkers in the pub. And the reaction on the streets? "It's been fantastic. We had one guy videoing us," Anne-Marie says. "And then another stag party invited us in for a drink. There's been lots of guys offering us `the last fling' ". It is four weeks before the wedding. The bride and groom to be have been going out with each other since they were 15. It's going to be a big bash in a little church in a Surrey village with the unlikely name of Chipsted. Suzy has a pair of red handcuffs strapped to her jeans, a leopardskin top and a necklace decorated with something difficult to describe in a family newspaper. The ensemble is topped off with a large, love-heart covered white veil.

So can they do things in Dublin they wouldn't dare do at home? "It's not about that," Anne-Marie insists. "It's just 12 girls out for a laugh and a giggle, somewhere where we can feel safe. We wanted to do something that wasn't in England and I'd heard so much about Dublin."

All of the 12 work in London, a lot of them in the hotel trade. "There's not an A-level between us," Anne-Marie declares proudly, before she finds out that actually a few of the group have these qualifications.

At one of the most popular hostels for British tourists the receptionist knows all about the hen weekend phenomenon. "They come here on a Friday morning. They go to the pub until it closes and then they go to the clubs. Then they get up the next day and do it all again.

"Some of them get special T-shirts printed up and they wear funny costumes. They're not as bad as the guys. But our poor night porter gets fierce hassle."

According to Bord Failte more than 80 British tour operators offer Irish packages. Frances Slattery, manager of Slattery's Travel Agency in London, says the agency handles about two a week in the high season. "They can get a coach and train with two nights for £70, which makes Dublin one of the cheapest destinations in Europe. That's why it caught on initially, and then word spread that it was good craic."

Every hen party hopes there is a stag party booked at the same time, Frances says. "They want something central and they want to know all the names of the bars before they go." Cultural attractions are fairly low on the agenda. "They don't see the Book of Kells."

Some hotels and hostels are now refusing to take bookings for English stag parties. One Dublin hostel was trashed by a group who broke down partition walls and smashed furniture. But hen parties are not seen as a problem.

With the strength of sterling and the city's growing reputation, Frances is expecting good business. "This winter will probably see it at its biggest. Most of the English take their two weeks in the sun during the summer and Dublin tends to be their other trip."

The hen party has provided good business. A lot of groups go back for second and third weekend trips.

"There isn't much publicity about Ireland here and some of it is negative so a lot go with initial fears. They come back very positive. They mightn't remember what happened but they usually come back happy."