With a little over two weeks to go, there’s simply no denying that it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas and if the shop decorations and Christmas music on the radio didn’t convince you, who better to herald the festivities that Santa Claus himself. Santa has been making appearances in shops all around the country and our reporter Liam Geraghty got to meet jolly old Saint Nick.

Liam went along to see Santa in the Toy Factory at Clerys department store in Dublin. Before he spoke to the man himself, Liam met Gerard Scully, who is the sales and merchandising manager in Clerys. He has worked in the store for 36 years and he explained how there have been many incarnations of Santa's Grotto over the years

"It used to be much bigger than it is now. There was a long walkway through the basement, leading up to Santa to keep the children entertained. We used to have enormous queues every year right up until the out of town  shopping centres had Santa visiting. It got gradually less and less. The queues used to run right around the building, but nobody used to mind."

"I call my elves the A-Team"

Liam was lucky enough to meet Santa himself. Santa explained to Liam that he has been checking his list and so far it would seem that most boys and girls are on the "nice" list! Many boys and girls have asked Santa for goodies from the movie Frozen and there's been a few requests for tablets too. 

Santa told Liam about all the hard work his elves are doing

"They are all hard at work, but I brought the A-Team to Clerys. I call them the A-Team because they are all brilliant."

You can visit Santa for free in his Toy Factory in Clerys week days noon to 5pm and weekends 10 am - 5 pm. Presents and photos are also available to purchase.