The Film Buff
Videos are a bad idea, Dave Fanning thinks. This year, though, his ideal gift would be a portable DVD player - unfortunately it doesn't seem to be available here yet. So a non-portable one will have to do (Dixons for between £300 and £700). However, Fanning still fantasises about the portable version: "To have one on a freezing train to Sligo would be amazing," he says. With crystal clear sound and a reception that makes you think the actors are sitting there next to you, you just wouldn't feel that five-hour journey with the three breakdowns and no tea trolley in sight.
The Home Improver
While most people may be put off by gimmicks and gadgets, the home improver never will. Patrick Moore, a buyer with Atlantic Homecare, recommends the Black & Decker Mouse (£64.99) - a small, handheld sander which gets into corners and is a lot more manageable than the heavy, industrial types. Moore also suggests the Skill Kit (£59.99) which contains every necessary tool for the DIY enthusiast and will provide hours of rummaging pleasure.
The Motoring Nut
The Traveller (£50 in the AA Shop) is the ultimate gift for the car-gadget-lover or those who have "an eccentric ring on their phone", according to Conor Faughnan of the AA. On your way from Macroom to Belfast just type in the destination and the Traveller will tell you how to get there, how long it will take and how much petrol you will need.
The Animal Lover
Does the animal lover in your life sit up at night wondering why Rover whinges when the theme song to Coronation Street comes on? Or why Ginger scowls constantly? Then, according to Andrew Byrne, vet from the RTE series Beastly Behaviour, the Christmas gift must be the books entitled Cool Cats (£20.40 at Easons) or Dog Watching by Desmond Morris (£12.95 at Easons), which will explain everything you want to know about pet behaviour. Or you could go for the feeding cube (around £15 in pet shops) - a device which lets food out when tumbled by the pet.
The Beauty Queen
After eating too much, drinking too much and having more hangovers than turkey portions, what does the beauty-conscious sort want for Christmas? Detox of course. But instead of booking into the Betty Ford clinic, Ellie Balfe, owner of Dublin's beauty emporium, Blue Eriu, recommends, from her own shop, Sea Cleanse (£27.50) and the Super Moisturising Serum (£38.50) by make-up artist Leanne Hirsh. For something luxurious it has to be the Skin Nourishing Milk Bath (£40.50), says Balfe. "Think Cleopatra," she says. "It's the complete bath experience."
The Gardener
`Gardeners are the easiest people to buy for in the whole extensive spectrum of possible types," says gardening writer Olda Fitzgerald, who believes there is so much out there it is hard to choose. An enormous herbaceous border installed by someone else would be her number one present this Christmas. But a year's subscription to the Irish Gardener (£20 tel: 01-2862649) would come in a close second for tips and advice on how to tend herbs and plants.
The Chainstore Junkie
Stylist Susie Cohen says that, being a country girl, it has always been important to "buy the outfit for Christmas".
This year she would like a three-quarter-length brown and cream, pony-skin coat from Kookai (£189) and a pair of silver snake-skinned boots from Buffalo (£200). "I want stuff that will last past Christmas," adds this practical type, who says the boots also come in a great pink shade.
