'What is the urgency?' - Irish shoppers urged to stay away from shops on St Stephen's Day

A former retail worker has pleaded with Irish shoppers to stay away from the shops on Stephen's day to avoid "chaos" and give retail workers a break over the Christmas period.

St Stephen's Day has become one of the biggest shopping days of the year where people storm the shops in search of a sale, seemingly not content with what Santa may have brought the day before.

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Speaking on Newstalk earlier this week, former retail worker Aoife has urged people to give the bargain hunting a miss this year as recalls a "lot of angry parents, a lot of sad kids," and a whole lot of "chaos".

"It was often a lot of angry parents, a lot of sad kids coming in with toys that would maybe not be working," said Aoife, "Or maybe they just haven't put batteries in them or maybe they were just not happy with what they got and that wanted to change them."

Posing the same question many other people might, Aoife asked, "What is the urgency? Like if you are going to get something in the sale, could you not wait the extra day?"

Aoife continued to say that people could wait an extra day or two if they needed to return an item or gift as most will have at least 30 days return date.

"Like take some of the pressure off, allow people to enjoy themselves, life is hard enough at the moment without rushing back into things."

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However, not everyone agreed with Aoife's point of view, as Noel Kelly, manager of McDowell's Jewellers in Dublin said, "Some people are away from home, and the reopening of a shop on Stephen's Day might be a welcome break for them.

"And there's also the idea that it's more terrible for staff," said Mr Kelly, "some people are happy to work over Christmas because Christmas is not the same as it is to everybody. Therefore, coming in on Stephen's Day and working probably is a bit of a rest break for them," he added.