The survey shows that 58% of purchases by Irish e-shoppers are for airline tickets, ahead of second-placed Malaysia on 55%. The Irish figure is well over twice the global average of 21%.

Irish e-shoppers are also above average when it comes to buying videos, DVDs and games. A quarter of Irish people order them over the internet, compared to a global average of 22%. We opt for the most expensive method of paying for online loot , , the credit card , , with 91% of us relying on our flexible friend against a global average of 56%.

We are not so quick to buy books , , the most popular epurchase around the world , , while we also shun clothes.

Twenty-three per cent of our purchases are for books as against a global average of 34% while just 12% are for clothes. The global average is 20%.

Overall, Ireland is ranked by Nielsen as the fifth-busiest e-shopping country among the 37 countries surveyed worldwide, behind Korea, the UK, Austria and Germany.

Another survey, by Amarach consulting for Comreg . . .the state's communications regulator , , confirmed our need to get out of the country via the internet but noted that sales bottomed out last year.

Similarly, the purchase of concert tickets online , , the second-most popular purchase for the last number of years , , dropped by a third last year.

By compensation, the purchase of books, videos/DVDs and music (in the form of CDs or downloads) has almost doubled in the same period, indicating a marked change in online shopping habits in Ireland in the last year.

The Comreg survey for the last quarter of 2005 shows that 42% of Irish adults now use the internet "several times a week" and half of those have made a purchase in the last three months. Age and income level are strong indicators of internet usage with most (63%) of users in the 15-24 year bracket. Meanwhile, 66% of upperincome professionals go online as against just 27% of those on lower incomes.

Barry O'Brien (28) is a selfconfessed inveterate online shopper who fits well into the above age category but as an aspiring musician with the band Betamax Format, may not yet fit into the income category. He says that he would browse through eBay every day and would make a purchase every couple of months.

"Even with post and packaging, internet shopping works out cheaper, " says O'Brien.

"More importantly, I can get items on the internet that are simply not available in any shops in Ireland."

O'Brien purchased two endof-the-line left-hand guitars recently on eBay which he could not get anywhere in Dublin. "I am using the internet more often now and use shops less and less, " he says.

Caroline Scanlon agrees that the real benefit of the internet is that you can get items that are not available in shops. Scanlon also uses eBay and Amazon to purchase rare and out-of-print books, CDs and DVDs. "I shop every day and buy something about once a week, " she says. "Half the fun is waiting for the post in the morning, " she says.

Caitriona O'Leary of Buy4Now, the Irish site for Superquinn, Arnott's, Eason's and 20 other major retailers, says that online orders have surged by 33% already this year largely as a result of the rapid roll out of broadband in the last few months.

"For the Valentine's day just gone, Sheila's Flowers recorded a 42% increase in flowers ordered over the internet, " says O'Leary. The average spend has also increased from 75 last year to 115 this year so far, she says.

An Amarach survey on shopping last Christmas indicated that over 250,000 people spent 216 each, or 55m collectively, e-shopping for Christmas alone, while the average spend per person throughout the year was almost 300. Retail watchers now predict that if this surge in internet shopping continues to increase at its current pace, it will surpass street shopping by next year.

Global Top Ten eShopping Irish Top Ten eShopping (AC Nielsen November 2005) (Comreg Survey December 2005)
Books 34%
Airline Tickets 57%
Videos/DVD 22%
Concert Tickets 23%
Airline tickets 11%
Music 20%
Clothing 20%
DVDs 17%
Music 18%
Package Holidays 13%
Electricals 17%
Books 13%
Computers 16%
Software 11% tours/hotels 14%
Other travel 10%
Event tickets 12%
Mobile top ups 5%
Cosmetics ` 10%
Clothing 4%