I've been reading but just posting briefly so I took a little bit of time this morning to catch up on the last few pages.
Cag we're honored to have such esteemed company posting in our thread 
.
babs very sorry to hear about your lovely dog 
Em I laughed at the lemur photo. Hope your sinus infection clears up quickly.
Star welcome back. Good luck in your new job. Sounds like you've a lot going on with a house sale and new house purchase.
Welcome also to WhatsGoingOn and Cankles. Very impressed at your achievements in just two years Cankles. That must have taken some commitment. I know the promotions (and your DH's work offer) helped but you could have spent the extra money on treats or a luxurious holiday or something. You were very disciplined about paying off your debts and building up a buffer. Sorry to hear your DH's contract has ended but you're in a much better place financially than you were 2 years ago.
Badders would you be in a position to switch to another 0% interest card when your current interest free period expires? Obviously pay as much off as you can before then.
As for politics, I think you summed it up nicely there needa "I too feel very sad at the division in the country. I think there's a section of society that feel disenfranchised, forgotten and alienated, experience unemployment and lack of social mobility and find someone to blame in the form of racism. Please be reassured that I still feel the vast majority of folk on both sides of the debate do not share that view. Some sections of the press don't help either." Unfortunately every country has its share of racist, ignorant people. Ireland is no exception.
Someone was asking about clothes. I have to buy every six months or so for DD as she's growing so quickly. So in September/October I pack away the summer clothes (vest tops, cropped leggings, shorts etc.) and see what can be salvaged for the autumn/winter season. I usually find that some things have gone too small and some leggings get thrown out because there's holes in them. What's left forms the basis of her autum/winter wardrobe and I add to it as necessary. Luckily she loves Penneys (a.k.a. Primark) so we buy cheap tops there and I often buy the 3 packs of leggings in Next. My sister gave me some hoodie tops a few years back as they'd gone too small for my niece. They were a little bit big for DD at the time but once they did fit her, she got sooo much wear out of them. It saved me a fortune.
I do it all again in April/May when the weather starts to turn a bit nicer. We take out last year's summer clothes and see if any of them still fit. Then I add a few bits. I don't buy too much for summer because it tends to be a short lived affair. For example, we had a lovely hot period at the end of May but it's been cloudy and rainy for the last few weeks so DD is back in her winter gear. We never really pack away the winter gear because the weather is so changeable here. The only thing we pack away is stuff like hats, scarves and gloves.
As for ourselves, we bought very little clothes since 2008 as we had to tighten our belts so much. Things have eased slightly since and we've started to re-stock. I bought a few new tops this year and have started to throw out some of the older ones. I've only two pairs of jeans so could badly do with another pair. I also could do with more work trousers as my two main pairs are 10+ years old and starting to show their age. I'm reluctant to rush out and do it all at once though. Seems a bit extravagant. I might add that I don't buy cheap clothes as I prefer to buy quality items that will last. Not designer clothes obviously but mid-range prices. I don't buy impulse purchases in sales either as I wasted a lot of money doing that when I was younger. DH goes through a lot of trousers and shoes. His shoes are expensive - anywhere between €50 and €100 at a time. Clothes and shoes are a lot more expensive here, even taking the exchange rate into account. I think the cost of living here is much higher than in the UK.