Get ready NYC ’cause here come the girls...

IT has similarities with the TV talent show, Stars in their Eyes.

Tonight, Matthew, I’m going to go off in my Dunnes finest but when I walk down the steps of the plane on a winter morning back in Shannon or Dublin I’ll be clad head to toe in Ralph, Tommy and Juicy Couture. I’ll stomp my way through customs, looking straight ahead for fear somebody might stop me in my Uggs, while concealing my new i-pod under my Abercrombie scarf.

It’s that time of the year again when the Irish head off on their annual pilgrimages to New York in search of cheap clothes, Christmas presents and, this year, Barack Obama merchandise.