A 24-year-old Birr native has decided to step out of his comfort zone and try wearing some shirts that aren't checked. Derek O'Mahony said he got the idea after spending a night out in Dublin with his cousin, who is going to college in the capital.

"I went up to Dublin for a night to see my cousin, Paulie. He's from Birr too. I've been up a few times and we've always had great craic, you know, going to Flannery's and then on to Coppers," said Derek.

Things were different the last time he went to Dublin though.

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"I knew there was something up when we went out two weeks ago. I called to Paulie's flat in Harold's Cross and he was all dressed and he said he was ready to go ... but he wasn't wearing a check shirt. I asked him if something was up or if he had a job interview but he just laughed it off," said Derek.

Things took an even stranger twist when they got into a taxi to go out.

"We'd had the few cans in the house and everything seemed normal. I knew something was up when we were in the taxi though. We were on the canal but instead of turning left for Camden Street, Paulie told the driver to take us to Ranelagh. We went to some place there and it seemed normal enough, but nobody was wearing a check shirt. I was the only one. I couldn't believe it. It was like stepping back in time."

When Derek asked Paulie about it, he said he'd been a few times and that he was trying striped shirts these days too.

"Paulie said the Dublin women prefer them, that he's even seen lads wearing shirts with little patterns on them and the women were all over them."

The two cousins are going to a 21st in Birr this weekend and they've both decided to wear new shirts.

"We haven't told the rest of the lads about it yet. I think we're just going to go for it and see what happens. The party's not on till eight o'clock or something so we'll meet the lads in the pub beforehand. I said to Paulie that we should bring a couple of check shirts in a bag just in case but he said we should just go for it, that if we had the other shirts as backup we'd only be tempted to get changed at the last minute."

Derek told us that he's a little nervous about it all, but that he has a plan if it backfires.

"I'll just blame Paulie. The rest of the lads have noticed little changes in him since he went off to Dublin. Nothing major, like. He seems to be wearing skinnier jeans. And he has a new pair of shoes. That's all. Sure we'll give the party a go and see what happens."

*Names changed