‘I used to meet my fella under that clock’: Shoppers delight as life returns to Clerys

“Ah Clerys is open, isn’t that brilliant,” a woman striding purposefully up O’Connell Street shortly after 10am exclaimed to no one before changing course and heading straight for the doors.

“Is it really open? Can I go in,” she asked staff.

When approached by The Irish Times, Miriam Hogan elaborated on the reason for her delight. Born and bred in Dublin, she moved the UK to work as a nurse more than 40 years ago, only returning home in the post-Brexit period.

She said her grandfather fought in the trenches in the first World War and on one occasion found himself pulling an officer who had married into the Clery family out of the mud of no man’s land. That act of bravery led to him getting a job in Guinness after the war “and that really helped our family”, she said.

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Family connections aside, Ms Hogan was delighted to see the lights on again in the new look city quarter.

“I know it is not the old Clerys but it is still great that it is here,” she said.

Her enthusiasm captured the mood of the dozens standing in line before 10am waiting for the grand reopening of the former doyen of Dublin department stores.

They were giddy with excitement as were the staff, all dressed in black, bopping away close to the entrance as DJ Anthony Remedy played tunes just inside the door to the rhythm of a red H&M ribbon fluttering in the breeze.

“We’re here because we missed Clerys,” said Debbie Keogh from Donabate, the first person in the queue.

She had come straight from a night shift to stand in line without a wink of sleep. “I didn’t think we’d be first in line, I thought there’s be loads of people here before us,” she said. “But we had to come in. This is where used to always meet. And even though it is a bit different it will always be Clerys.”

“I used to meet my fellah under that clock back in the 80s,” said Fiona Lynch, who was in the queue with her daughter Cherell. “And we used to go see Santy here. I was sad to see it close, I used to like rambling around it, it was a bit posh though. It is great to see the likes of these shops opening.”

“I can’t stand looking at closed retail units, it is very sad. It was awful to see it close and terrible for the staff,” said Geraldine Murray from the Old Airport Road. “I love H&M, I really like it but I am also passionate about shopping local.”

Did she ever meet anyone under the clock?

“Oh God yeah, absolutely. Sure we all met people under the clock, it was legendary and it will continue to be legendary,” she said, dismissing the notion that people these days are more likely to meet on Tinder than under timepieces.

[ First look at Clerys Quarter: A glimpse inside one of Dublin’s best known shops for the first time in nine years ]

As the clock turned 10, and Call On Me by Eric Prydz blared out of the speakers, a staff member danced his way to the door and cut the ribbon with a flourish allowing shoppers to spill in.

Minutes later four members of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) arrived on the scene. One was dressed as a duck and another as a goose and they were all carrying placards denouncing H&M globally for the use of duck and goose down in some of its products. Their voice was heard but shoppers appeared undeterred from being part of a the opening of new chapter for Dublin city centre.

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