It's two weeks to go until the big day – but already, many of us have reached saturation point and already hate the festive season. So I asked people including Santa has it reached fever pitch - pointing out loneliness, poverty and the divide between rich and poor?

In other words: is it okay to hate Christmas?

I met Santa Claus in St Stephen's Green Shopping Centre in Dublin and while he was happy for me to sit on his lap he disagreed that people should dislike Christmas saying: "No, no. I would never use the hate word about Christmas, there is too much to love about it."

However, when I asked people on the street, it was easy to see that Christmas is not as popular as marketers would have you believe: "The dynamics and tensions come to the surface, I always thought Christmas was hell. I never like it,’ one man confessed.

Another woman told me: "It’s the forced joviality and consumer porn of the whole thing that turns me right off - it’s an orgy of Into the West, indigestion and materialism."

I have to admit, even though it's only December 9th, I've already had enough of the Christmas hype. I asked one performer in an all-male choir to sing the high-pitched carol "O' Holy Night" but by the time he was half-way through I politely asked him to stop.

Are people who hate Christmas just a bunch of grinches or has the season of alleged goodwill just got too much?

And if you're undecided, watch this video showing six reasons to hate Christmas by Facts.