With most shops and businesses opening at 09:00 or 09:30, the city is relatively quiet in the early morning hours (if you discount the many commuters crisscrossing it on their way to work). However, once Dublin has sprung to life, there is no stopping it. As the majority of businesses shut their doors at 17:00, followed by shops at 18:00 or 19:00 (some centres have late night openings on Thursdays until 20:00), the action then moves to the many restaurants, bars, pubs, cafes and finally nightclubs. On a Thursday, Friday and Saturday night, the city is buzzing until well into the early hours.

Many clubs charge an admission fee after a certain hour, which can be anywhere between a couple of euros up to a hefty €25, depending on the venue, the time and the DJ spinning the discs.

The days when the city was dead on a Sunday are long over. Many establishments and shops now open their doors to customers on Sunday afternoons and big chains, such as Tesco or Dunnes, have long introduced 24 hour shopping.