The great debate as to when Christmas should or does officially start is always a good talker after the Halloween decorations return to storage.

With Christmas lights turned on in cities, towns and villages across Ireland, the festive season has now officially kicked off and in a recent survey by Musgrave Marketplace almost half of respondents said they were more than happy to see decorations up in restaurants and bars as early as possible.

However, sentiment changed when asked about putting up your Christmas decorations at home, with 75% of people believing you should wait until at least December 1st.

It wouldn’t be Christmas without the mention of turkey and ham and 51% of people said they would enjoy turkey and ham up to three times before Christmas Day with 16% saying it would be on more than three occasions.

However, one in three people surveyed said they would only eat the traditional fayre on Christmas Day.

When it came to a Christmas cocktail, the tipple of choice was a Pornstar Martini, followed by a Mojito.

Just over half of those surveyed at the beginning of November had started their Christmas shopping while 54% already had Christmas night outs planned.

Musgrave MarketPlace released its survey results as attention firmly turns to the upcoming festive season.

Speaking today, Desi Derby Director of Marketing at Musgrave MarketPlace said: “It is no doubt the busiest time of the year for the hospitality and foodservice industry and our teams across Musgrave MarketPlace are working closely with our customers as Christmas season firmly kicks off this weekend.”

“Last year we sold over 150,000 individual portions of turkey and ham, approximately 750,000 potatoes and over 100,000sprouts ensuring those celebrating the festive season enjoyed typical Christmas fayre!

“When it came to a Christmas tipple, our most popular alcohol lines were dominated by beers with Heineken, Coors Light and Guinness all in the top performers while non-alcohol sales are up 14% on last year.”