Pyjama Girls in Dublin

We all know that the country sleepwalked itself into deep recession whilst dreaming a fluffy dream about ever-multiplying property values that would sustain the economy forever.

Nobody shouted “wake up”, of course, and now all the would-be tycoons are stuck paying for properties they can’t afford, are worth less than they were bought for, and can’t be let out. Oh… and many of them are losing their jobs.

And speaking of sleepwalking, what about all those people – usually female – going around the place in pyjamas all the time? For any of you who haven’t been to Ireland in a while – particularly Dublin – it’s a common sight. Young ones and women right up to their 20s, 30s and 40s who have given up on the idea of getting dressed, and walk the streets in their jim-jams instead - the ensemble usually accessorised by a packet of John Player Blue in the breast pocket.

I noticed it a good few years ago, and often marvelled upon it. But each to their own, and if people want to wear pyjamas 24-7 then grand, that’s their business. But you can’t help noticing and wondering what’s behind it all. The phenomenon, I mean – not necessarily the pyjamas.

Today’s Sunday Times reports that a documentary is in the making, called “Pyjama Girls”. Set around the Basin Street Flats complex near Guinness Brewery, its director, May Derrington, has an interesting take on the subject, theorising that “There is a sense among the communities where pyjama-wearing is prevalent that the home doesn’t stop at your front door…. It’s the wider area you live in. There is more of an old-fashioned sense of belonging, of an identity. Obviously there are also negative sides to those communities in that another reason for wearing pyjamas is because these people are not necessarily going to work”.

In that case, given the rude awakening the Irish economy has had, we might all be donning the pee-jays yet.

Best get down to Penneys and grab a few sets while you still can.

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