Recent poll findings suggest Irish people underestimate how much they will spend on alcohol over Christmas, according to one consumer expert. 

A recent Amárach/Newstalk poll found 56% of people predict they will spend less than €100 on drinks this Christmas, including alcoholic drinks. 

Irish Times Consumer Correspondent Conor Pope, however, said people definitely tend to underestimate how much they spend on alcohol. 

“When you think that the price of a pint - even in a good value pub - is a fiver, that would be 20 pints [with €100],” he told The Anton Savage Show. 

“If there’s two adults, that’s 10 pints each over the [four-day] Christmas period. 

“That’s not mentioning prosecco or champagne.” 

Crunching the numbers himself, Mr Pope suggested people might buy 10 bottles of wine, a casement of larger, some “cheap champagne” and a spirit such as whiskey to drink over the 12 days of Christmas. 

“Over €300 is what people will spend,” he said. “People tend to drink a little bit more over Christmas. 

“That doesn’t include the cost of nights out - if you go out and you have four drinks, and I don’t think that’s wildly excessive, you're looking at at least €40.” 

Christmas food

The survey also revealed 27% of Irish people plan to spend between €100 and €150 on the Christmas food shop. 

Mr Pope said that number could be higher for many families – especially those who stock up ahead of Christmas Day. 

“When you think about it, how we shop over Christmas is really telling of the Irish psyche,” he said. 

“You see this in the supermarkets in the run up to Christmas, the 23rd of December, people are shopping like they're heading into a nuclear Armageddon. 

“It’s really on the two days when the frenzy just becomes really intense... you see people with two trolleys trying to navigate the shops.” 

He said this frenzy is likely because Irish people remember a time when shops were closed over Christmas. 

“In Ireland of the 70s and 80s when we grew up, the shops closed on the 24th and didn’t open until the 28th,” he said. 

“So, if you didn’t have your necessities, you'd be in a really difficult position.” 

Roughly 3 in 10 (27%) people plan on spending less this Christmas while a third of people plan to spend more than €500 on Christmas presents. 

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