PAUL SHEERAN JEWELLERS

Diamonds may be a girl’s best friend but the precious stones have certainly lost some of their sparkle, judging by new accounts for Dublin jeweller Paul Sheeran.Sheeran, who owns two shops – one off Grafton St in Dublin city centre and the other in Dundrum Town Centre – saw gross profit fall to €2.4m in 2009 compared with €4.6m the previous year, according to The Sunday Business Post.

“Business changed very dramatically in Ireland over the past two years,” Sheeran said. “The downturn was so sudden … there were a lot of sales in the €40,000-€50,000 bracket a few years ago. Those customers aren’t really there anymore.”