The Margin couldn't but help to be impressed with the Munich fire brigade, which in a news release about an exploding Christmas tree, on Sunday became the first of Europe's emergency services to convert to the euro since the currency's new-year launch.

While the rest of us were in the second phase of recovery from the New Year revelries, the bright sparks in the fire brigade estimated the damage to a woman's house at 35,000 deutschmarks - or around #17,900 - after her Christmas tree was ignited by sparklers she had lit.

"The tree caught fire explosively, and the resulting vacuum broke the windows in the next room," the fire department said.

The woman managed to put out the fire with blankets, and sustained only minor injuries. It surely can't be long before the euro calculators are out in Dublin's Tara Street.