Abandoning high-street shops seems like a good idea when you consider that there are huge costs in keeping them afloat and they bind you to the premises all day long.

Many dealers, tired of waiting for passing trade, instead took themselves off to the big fairs and auction houses, where they often had more fun and made more money. Those in Francis Street, and other areas, who found ways to survive and retain their shop fronts are important in that they continue shop culture. At the end of the day, there's nothing like a street full of small, charming curiosity shops selling an eclectic mix of antiques and fine art . . . an entertaining source of browsing for punters. Such shop culture is part of tourism in cities throughout the world, so why not in Ireland?

The revamping of the antique trade in the UK has been vigorous, with exhibitors and dealers at Olympia and Grosvenor House (which stages one of the biggest summer antiques fests) saying it may have contributed to the bumper sales they enjoyed last month.

The Olympia fair's director Freya Simms worked hard to improve the fair, which she has now re-branded 'The Summer Fair, Olympia'.

It wasn't enough that Madonna and Gerry Hall were frequent visitors to the fair, she was determined to mark it out further as a fashionable place to be, with champagne receptions, fountains, celebrity tents, previews and corporate evenings making it more akin to what you might find at the races.

And to cap it all she organised a two-star Michelin restaurant in the gallery from where the Victorian architecture of the halls can be appreciated . . . a private dining room was set aside where up to a dozen dealers, collectors or companies could party.

Although, if its serious food you are after the best place to find it is at the Biennale des Antiquaires at the Grand Palais in Paris, in September (15-24) where for 10 days a succession of France's best chefs will delight the eye and the appetite with their culinary art.

Aside from the French chefs, all of the above is nothing new to the Irish Antique Dealers Association (IADA), which was ahead of the posse with rebranding. George Stacpoole, president of the IADA, and its PRO Roxanne Moorhead, have had their hands firmly on the rudder of change for the past five years and they have been introducing a contemporary flavour to complement the more traditional antiques. They have always had previews and champagne charity events, and when it comes to celebrities there is no problem . . . it appears that they run like lemmings to antique and art fairs.

It' s the the middle-of. . . the-road punters, the ordinary busy working sector of society the IADA is after. They don't want to woo them away from Ikea-type furniture, or from Habitat, but to encourage them to mix and match their contemporary pieces with more solid traditional pieces.

Stacpoole and Moorhead took the vogue for 20th-century furniture in their stride and decided that if you can't beat them join them. Thus you will find art deco and a host of 20th- and 21st- century furniture and paintings at the Irish Antiques show in the RDS. The next four-day fair starts on 27 September and runs until 1 October.