It doesn't seem rational does it? On the same day that thousands of bankers lost their jobs at Lehman Brothers in London, art collectors spent an extraordinary €140 million buying art from Damian Hirst in the first auction of its kind. His Golden Calf alone, (pictured), sold for £10.35 (€12.9 million).

It shows the huge international appetite for contemporary art out there but in the antiques and fine art world it's a little different.

Dealers at this weekend's 43rd Antiques Fairin the RDShave had a torrid time if of it in recent years,with the drift towards all things contemporary in both furniture and art.

Decent brown furniture, once the staple of many stands at the fair over the years, is almost impossible to sell, while most young people looking to collect just don't see the point of antique silver. Still, the fair brings together the very best dealers in the country and the best furniture and objets they've been saving for months to show off. Regulars like Rupert McHenryfrom Co Antrim, the Johnstonbrothers from Dublin silver and jewellery specialist Jimmy Weldonand Anneand Lawrence Citronof Mitofsky Antiqueswho this year are broadening their range and moving away from art deco pieces, because, they say, so much "inferior quality" deco furniture is now coming into the country. Maybe this year, with the cash-rich looking for a safe haven for their money, the dealers might just see an uplift.