Often the go-to present for the “difficult to get person”, if you know anyone interested in Diversity and Inclusion, or have a passion for a particular area within the sector, then you may want to have a look at this article that I wrote for ThinkBusiness.ie entitled “Diversity and Inclusion Books by Irish Authors”. Featuring the likes of Sinead Burke, Sarah Webb, Emma Dabari, Keith Earls and the recently departed Vicky Phelan. 

Charitable donation

GoFundMe has a list of the most successful Irish Charities that have launched fundraising initiatives on their site. This includes causes in different areas such as physical health, mental health, children’s health, animals, wildlife, homeless services, or hospices. 

It’s often a nice gift to give to the person who has everything. 

Food & Drink

Natnoot is an Irish wheatgrass drink created by visually impaired man Derek Walker and his wife Anna, that has grown from a farmers market into being stocked in Supervalu, while Wicklow Way Wines is a locally sourced wine company that puts sustainability at the heart of their brand. Meanwhile, the Daily Edge website has an article entitled 13 Irish Craft Beers to try. Getting a selection of these could be a nice gift for beer lovers in your life

Food – Always a winner, particularly for people on certain diets or ethical or allergenic diets. Brands such as Foods of Athenry, Thanksplants.co and Oh Happy Treats are great options and for buying for those who are gluten free, vegetarian and vegan options too. In 2020, The Irish Times published this article on’ Sixty-three Irish food and drink specialists for your online Christmas shopping’

Fashion brands

You may have seen that I recently wrote an entire article on this for my website, entitled Irish fashion brands in the Diversity and Inclusion sector that you can support this Christmas. It features the likes of Feedmemother.ie, Izzy Wheels, PeachyLean and The Runners Sanctuary. 

Gardening

This is my personal go for a last minute gift. Websites like GIY.ie, Little Green Growers and gardening utensils from the likes of quickcrop.ie have a fantastic range of products to choose from for people who may have taken up gardening during the pandemic and had a vegetable patch. 

Similarly, a trip to your local gardening centre is always a good spot to pick up bits and pieces that are needed for gardening utensils, or just to pick up a plant or to.

They’re a particularly good for parents of young children, so they can watch the vegetables grow together.

Health 

ThinkBusiness.ie recently published “20 Irish health businesses to check out for festive gift ideas. The article has a range of age groups and genders to choose from and it features the likes of Derval.ie, Let’s Get Checked and Massage Guns Ireland Locally sourced hampers is a nice touch if you’re travelling somewhere new this year.

Tours and Museums in Ireland

This is a great gift for any locals who may be interested in art or history. Often Irish people go on holiday and visit famous museums and go on local tours, but then forget to visit their interests when they’re at home.  Museums such as The National History Museum, The Hugh Lane Gallery, The James Joyce Centre or some of the tours such as The Guinness Storehouse Tour, The Jameson Distillery Tour or my personal choice would be The Croke Park Museum and Skyline Tour is a great trip for a day out and can be very enjoyable if you have children who can go along with their parents or grandparents.

Skincare

Another area that has seen a huge increase in ethically made, plastic-free and free from chemicals. Vico Natural Deodorant was recently featured on the Late Late Show’s supporting Irish Business special, Organicules are another option that provide scented options, Janni Bars offer a range of beauty and skincare products and all of their packaging is made from sustainable bamboo. 

Subscribed to a Podcaster, YouTuber or Twitch streamer

Through platforms like Patreon, it allows patrons to pay for the content the hosts put out. Often patrons can get enhancements from their hosts for doing so. Items such as early access to live show tickets, being able to submit questions, or receive gifts from the hosts. This way the patrons who pay allow the hosts to create the content and make a living from doing so. Some of the personalities in Ireland include The Blindboy Podcast, Niall Breslin’s Where Is My Mind, Irish History Podcast and The Second Captains, who created an excellent spin-off series called Where Is George Gibney?

It’s the perfect gift for anyone who spends hours consuming content from these content creators.

Sports

From the Irish Women’s football team qualifying for the World Cup, to the Irish Rugby Team’s first successful tour to New Zealand, to our boxers, rowers, horse racing personalities of both years, 2022 has been an incredible year for Irish sport. Some of the suggestions in Diversity and Inclusion could be an Irish women’s football jersey to have for the World Cup, books like Kellie Harrington and Rachel Blackmore, or support your local GAA country or club by buying their jersey. 

You can’t really go wrong with getting clothes from sports brands, even if they already have one.

Stationary or organisational gifts

This is a great one for the organised people in your life. Diaries, notebooks, journals, pens, pencils, paper are always most welcome for organised people. Although it may not be the most creative gift, it’s a very useful gift as this means they’ll never run out of the stationary they need.

Sustainability

I could just do an entire article on this. But this is so wide that it’s difficult to get it into one paragraph. But if you’re purchasing products like soaps, candles, bathroom products, food, toys, clothing or textiles you can look into, ethically made or sourced goods, or goods that are vegan friendly.

Toys

Again, I’m going to republish an article I previously published an article that can be seen here on the ThinkBusiness.ie website. It features the likes of DluluKaloo, Jiminy, Lottie Dolls and Sensational Kids.

There’s a particular emphasis on sensory toys for autistic children and children with additional needs.

Vouchers

The last refuge of the desperate shopper. But vouchers can be an excellent way to let the difficult buy something they want instead of getting them something they won’t use. Some of the best vouchers to get (depending on your price range) is Ireland’s Blue Book is “a romantic collection of Irish Country House Hotels, Manor Houses, Castles and Restaurants” Dine in Dublin is “The perfect gift for anyone who enjoys socialising in Dublin City Centre. Accepted in over 50 of the city’s best restaurants, bars and cafés.and Allgifts.ie is a good alternative to that other voucher service in Ireland, that there’s been a lot of controversy about recently

Zero waste shops

One of the more recent additions to the retail industry has been Zero Waste Shops, according to gozero.ie they explain it as “ to assist consumers and businesses reduce their plastic consumption and waste through everyday choices and action. Go Zero houses information about bulk food stores, the shops offering refill options, plastic-free markets, zero waste events, workshops and news articles & tips – making it easy for people to take steps towards a Zero Waste lifestyle.” 

The website has a wide dictionary of stores where you can find a local store of the person you are buying for and get a voucher for the most eco-conscious people in your life.

Zoos

The perfect gift for anyone with kids in your life. Check that they don’t have a family pass first. Then get 

• Dublin Zoo particularly the Wild Lights tour
• Fota Wildlife Park – One of Corks best family attractions 
• Tropical World – based in Letterkenny in Co Donegal has according to its website “dreds of amazing tropical butterflies of all shapes and sizes, all in free flight. Be greeted by the sounds of Lorikeets, Turacos and birds from around the globe serenading you through our exotic aviaries and on to the lemurs and miniature monkeys that call Tropical World home, along with racoons, meerkats and more.” 
• The National Reptile Zoo – based in Hebron Co Kilkenny, the zoo has a range of prices, different reptile and party themes to choose from
• Secret Valley Wildlife Park and Zoo, Co. Wexford Secret Valley Wildlife Park is home to over 40 species of animals ranging from ring-tailed lemurs to tarantulas. Here you’ll find some information on some of the many animals that live at the park. You can join our keeper talks during your visit to learn all kinds of things about our residents, like what our meerkats like to eat or how lemurs survive in the wild.”
• Your local Petting Zoo – the website familyfun.ie has a range of petting zoos across Ireland, where kids (and some big kids)