The 39-year-old Dubliner is on track to become one of Ireland's most successful full-time Ebay entrepreneurs, and says he has six months to make it work. He thinks he might be getting there.

"I'm close to selling the amount of goods I need every month to make a living from it, " he says.

A pick-up in business earlier in the year was followed by a bit of a lull, but he remains hopeful that he won't have to revert to the rat-race to put bread on the table.

His last job was as a computer programmer with aggregates giant CRH, but Fahy took some time off to travel and, when he returned, decided to make a go of using Ebay to set up his own business.

As Easter Rising commemorations take place around the country today, Fahy has found that one strong seller has been a more unusual picture of Michael Collins. But Fahy isn't the only one peddling items linked to the uprising. Ebay users will find anything from an Easter Rising wall map recently issued by a daily newspaper, on sale for �?�6, to stamps and commemorative coins from 1966. One of the most expensive items was a 1916 Rising medal that sold at the beginning of the month for over �?�600.

Fahy thinks many people are probably buying such items with the hope of hanging on to them for 10 years, when the 100th anniversary may pique more interest in related memorabilia. Meanwhile, he's sticking to the bread and butter.

"The trick is to sell something that is collectible, " he says. "Some stuff doesn't really do too well. I tried selling jigsaw puzzles, but while people can look at a picture of the item, it's hard to get a proper feel for the product. I also tried to sell handmade handbags."

They didn't shift too well either. Fahy explains that there are typically 200,000 handbags for sale on Ebay at any one time, and the hand-made ones, while good quality, were expensive and found it hard to compete with cheaper items. He's having some surprising hits though.

"I've been selling a lot of miniature Garda toy cars and jeeps, " he says. "They really took off for me. I've been selling them to a lot of Americans, which is the market I primarily aim at."

But interest is generated as far afield as Pakistan and Brazil (where one Ebay user bought a Roy Keane poster), underlining just how much global commerce is changing.

And Fahy sees opportunity in everything.

"I was at an Ireland-Italy rugby match and I sold my ticket stub online for �?�6 to an Italian collector, " he says.

"It's all about finding your niche and gradually building up."

As well as auctioning off items in the more traditional Ebay fashion, Fahy also has his own online store connected to the site. He is trying to entice other businesses to sell their items through him.

"I basically act as their agent on Ebay, " he explains. "At the moment I'm working with Claddagh CDs, for example.

I'll put a lot of their traditional CDs up on Ebay and they'll ship them for me."

The bonus for Fahy is that he doesn't have to spend a fortune buying up stock. He is also hitting on some interesting concepts as he spots buying habits. He has noticed that many people never search outside their own Ebay country site. There are dedicated sites for the US, Ireland, the UK and other countries.

"I often find items on Ebay's German site that I can buy fairly cheap. I can sometimes sell them on Ebay USA for double the price."

More often, he goes to auctions to buy in bulk.

"To get things like stamps and coins I go to auctions in Dublin and sometimes in London. You'll find lots that are suitable for dealers and I buy in bulk, then break them down into smaller lots and sell them, " says Fahy.

Even those who are still sitting on a wad of old Irish bank notes would get hefty returns for selling them on Ebay rather than converting them at the Central Bank to euros. The Central Bank will give a face value euro amount, but a good quality uncirculated £10 note featuring James Joyce can easily fetch over $40, or about �?�35. Even a well-worn fiver is on sale for over $17.

Fahy is hoping to more than double his current monthly sales levels, something that would give him a comfortable living. He even thinks he may eventually need to hire someone to help with the shipping.

If only it could be done virtually.