The novelty scissors malfunctioned when Bressie was cutting the ribbon at the grand re-opening of Clery’s this morning but everything else went seamlessly with thousands of shoppers flooding the “iconic” department store as it opened its doors for the first time since it was swamped by a great deluge last summer.

"We used to come up to Dublin for Four Nations matches and this is where everyone used to meet to get their tickets. It was the only place we knew," Bressie told The Irish Times once his ribbon cutting duties were dispensed with.

Describing it as "quite the institution" he started telling a story about how his granny used to come down from Donegal twice a year to shop in the O'Connell St department store before being distracted by the prices on some of the suitcases in the brightly lit and freshly painted basement. "600 quid for a suitcase," he exclaimed. "I hope they give me a discount".

Mary Hynes from Cabra was standing in the queue for nearly two hours before the doors opened but despite being cold and a little miffed at not winning any of the prizes which were being given away as the crowd gathered she was delighted with herself. "I have been coming her for years," she said. "We danced here and we met our boyfriends under the clock and then when we had children we brought them here to see Santy," she said. "This is the centre point of O'Connell St and if it goes we'd have no decent shop left on the street."

Elizabeth McMullan is from Fenian St and she had crossed the river to be at the re-opening. "My sister worked here for years," she said before adding, almost as an afterthought, "Oh and my father was Santy here a long long time ago." Sorry, what? Your father was Santa Claus? In Clery's? "That's right, many years ago. It was for a week or something that he did it. He loved it."

Wendy Segasiso may never have seen Santa Claus here – seeing as she came to Dublin from Botswana just three years ago – but she too was excited by the re-opening. "I love it here. There is a lot of stores in one department and a lot of cheap and lovely things."

The was a competition held among those in the queue to decide who would be the first shopper through the doors and there were pantomime groans where it was revealed that the winner was from Glasgow. "Not even a Dub" said a chorus of old dears in the queue. He may as well have been though. While Richie Nivin was born in Glasgow he has been living in Dublin for 30 years. "This is the best and the cheapest shop in Dublin. I once found a jacket here that was 60 punts cheaper than it cost in Arnotts. 60 punts! It is a great, friendly store. I met a few dates under the clock here but none of them lasted very long," he said and wandered off in search of bargains.

Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Jimmy Deenihan was equally upbeat as he described the re-opening as a "good day for Dublin and a good day for Ireland". He expressed the hope that a "rejuvenated Clerys" would "lead to more footfall on the street".

Pauline Griffin worked here in the 1950s but had to resign in 1959 when she got married. "I had a good job here and even earned more than my husband but once I got married, that was it, I had to go. It is great to see it open again. There is very little of old Dublin left and I think the city really missed it when it closed."