Shopping outside the country - unpatriotic?
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truthseeker
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Just spent 250 quid on amazon.co.uk - use them all the time anyway, but between january sale items and the sterling/euro exchange rate its a brilliant time to bag a bargain there. Dont feel remotely unpatriotic - Im keeping An Post busy at least 
Just spent 250 quid on amazon.co.uk - use them all the time anyway, but between january sale items and the sterling/euro exchange rate its a brilliant time to bag a bargain there. Dont feel remotely unpatriotic - Im keeping An Post busy at least
If the Irish governments wants people to travel to Ireland then why not let pensions who have Irish passport that live in the UK travel at half prices on public transport that would bring a lot of people to Ireland and when there they would be spending hence boosting the economy. After all pensioners that people live in Northern Ireland. which is part of the UK are allowed to travel down to the south using public transport and this is free for them, therefore why not let the rest of the Irish pensions living in the UK have the save privilege.
In these times we have to travel where there is good value for moeny therefore how can it be unpatriotic to go where there is savings to be made.
Joody
Taxi Driver
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Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan has urged shoppers to do their “patriotic duty” and resist the urge to avail of bargains in the North. However if people can save €50 or €100 on their weekly shop this is extra money that they can spend in pubs, restaurants, cinemas and on taxis and other services in this country that can't be bought on a shopping trip to the North.
Brian Lenihan's patriotic duty involves reducing the incomes across a whole range of occupations. It just that these are unseen and not seen like traffic jams into Newry on a Saturday morning.
Taken from here a piece on The Broken Window of Patriotic Duty
Brian Lenihan's patriotic duty involves reducing the incomes across a whole range of occupations. It just that these are unseen and not seen like traffic jams into Newry on a Saturday morning.
Taken from here a piece on The Broken Window of Patriotic Duty
Ha! never knew that!
What about the outsourcing of various suppliers to state bodies/public sector as well as many building projects within the state too?
At least some of those rely on materials and workforce sourced outside the state.
G
gflood
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You make an point there glowinthedar.
And to be honet after reading about Cooper Flynn and her allowance any feelings I had about keeping spenidng in the Republic is rapidly fading. I mean not only is this costing us and our future generations 41k but we also need to borrow that and pay interest. All too often we hear about these 'small' amounts of money squandered. But it all rapidly adds up.
And to be honet after reading about Cooper Flynn and her allowance any feelings I had about keeping spenidng in the Republic is rapidly fading. I mean not only is this costing us and our future generations 41k but we also need to borrow that and pay interest. All too often we hear about these 'small' amounts of money squandered. But it all rapidly adds up.
glowinthedar
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Of course there are somethings that need to be sourced and purchased outside the state, but for things that are available in the state through Irish businesses then government should actively leverage these sources.
So if our government doesnt do this, in the name of saving tax payers money, who would the ordinary person???
Good on everyone for shopping around and keeping the money in your pocket. Not in the government coffers which only seem to be spend on TD's undeserved bonuses/expenses/junkets etc...
BTW we are all in debt of €12,000 each due to this governments reckless spending!
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Londonderry?
Contracts like this have to be tendered across the EU. An Irish company had just as much chance of applying for this but maybe they weren't the best option on price or whatever criteria is used.
If they started awarding contracts to only Irish companys and never bothered to tender them where they are supposed to,you can be sure the EU would get involved and if it's not an open process, you'd be getting into brown envelopes for contracts. We've seen it all before
Sure the Leaving Cert papers are printed by a UK company. Well they were when I did it
welcome to ireland!
The Irish government must think of ways to get tourists into Ireland, so many people came to the UK to do shopping before Christmas they said that it was because the exchange rate as well as the VAT of 15% in the UK , and also the fares were very cheap to fly with Ryanair. It makes a lot of sense to go where the prices are right for people and there are savings to be made.
People cannot afford to paterotic when they struggling to make ends meet.
Joody
People cannot afford to paterotic when they struggling to make ends meet.
Joody
If you follow the patriotism arguemennt shouldnt you try to buy irish products from irish shops. I read somewhere that some companies (Tesco was the headline) label products as produced in Ireland if they are manufactured in the North or South. How does this affect patriotism? how does banking with Ulsterbank, shopping in Tesco, eating in Pizza hut affect it?
Yes I know that spending locally increases the local economy, but if you follow the patriotism arguement to its conclusion you could end up avoiding most of the companies in the country.
ps I am a British citizen living, working and paying tax in ireland so I am doing my patriotic bit by spending as much money as i can in the North!
anon473
Yes I know that spending locally increases the local economy, but if you follow the patriotism arguement to its conclusion you could end up avoiding most of the companies in the country.
ps I am a British citizen living, working and paying tax in ireland so I am doing my patriotic bit by spending as much money as i can in the North!
anon473
For me a simple arguement is this (VAT = 20%).
Collectively if we all buy goods costing €10bn up North that would cost €12bn down here we are saving nothing. Of the €12bn we would have spent here €2bn would VAT. Some people like to think that this €2bn will come out of Cowen, Harney, Lenihan, etc's wages, but luckily they don't earn that much so unfortunately it ultimately is €2bn out of all of our pockets.
The plus side is that the extra €1.5bn collected by Her Majesty's Exchequer will pay for some nice roads around London which we can use when we're all forced to move there due to lack of economic activity here.
Collectively if we all buy goods costing €10bn up North that would cost €12bn down here we are saving nothing. Of the €12bn we would have spent here €2bn would VAT. Some people like to think that this €2bn will come out of Cowen, Harney, Lenihan, etc's wages, but luckily they don't earn that much so unfortunately it ultimately is €2bn out of all of our pockets.
The plus side is that the extra €1.5bn collected by Her Majesty's Exchequer will pay for some nice roads around London which we can use when we're all forced to move there due to lack of economic activity here.
There are other reasons for shopping outside Ireland than price - i.e. service.
I recently ordered 2 bathrooms suites from Germany and actually received them by next day delivery, well packaged and complete.
I ordered another one from Cork City, only 15 miles away, and it arrived broken with bits missing 5 days late and on the back of a pickup.
I'm sure that there are efficient Irish retailers but there are too many lazy inefficient ones that have had it too easy for too long. We need to see better service in this country as well as better prices before I shop for more things at home. If market forces are allowed to come to bear then those lousy, expensive retailers will go bust. Then once Irish retailers become as efficient and compeitive as European retailers they will get my business.
When it comes to prices differences whilst we share the same currency and have similar rates of VAT I found that quality German bathroom goods as and example are over twice the price here for the exact same item.
So should I be "patriotic" and shop for sanitary ware in a local shop where the owner drives a Porsche on his profits ?? Or should I buy abroad and buy my own Porsche with the change ?
I recently ordered 2 bathrooms suites from Germany and actually received them by next day delivery, well packaged and complete.
I ordered another one from Cork City, only 15 miles away, and it arrived broken with bits missing 5 days late and on the back of a pickup.
I'm sure that there are efficient Irish retailers but there are too many lazy inefficient ones that have had it too easy for too long. We need to see better service in this country as well as better prices before I shop for more things at home. If market forces are allowed to come to bear then those lousy, expensive retailers will go bust. Then once Irish retailers become as efficient and compeitive as European retailers they will get my business.
When it comes to prices differences whilst we share the same currency and have similar rates of VAT I found that quality German bathroom goods as and example are over twice the price here for the exact same item.
So should I be "patriotic" and shop for sanitary ware in a local shop where the owner drives a Porsche on his profits ?? Or should I buy abroad and buy my own Porsche with the change ?
Shopping in North? Unpatriotic?
Hi all,
I am expecting a baby this summer. Friends have gone over the boarder and picked up some nice bargains on baby stuff.
My husband really doesnt like the idea of us buying in the North as we should try help our economy and buy as much as we can from here. He said people are giving out about shops closing and people losing their jobs and this kind of thing doesnt help.
I'm all for being patriotic when its realistic but seriously I want to save a few bob, I do understand where he's coming from and wish I could be more sympathetic. I'm sort of of the view that what difference will it make if WE shop in the North too. It'll hardly save jobs????
I'd love to hear opinions from those who agree or disagree with my husbands view.
I would gladly shop here if the differences were just marginal but I've heard of people saving hundreds on buggys alone! What are we supposed to do....
Hi all,
I am expecting a baby this summer. Friends have gone over the boarder and picked up some nice bargains on baby stuff.
My husband really doesnt like the idea of us buying in the North as we should try help our economy and buy as much as we can from here. He said people are giving out about shops closing and people losing their jobs and this kind of thing doesnt help.
I'm all for being patriotic when its realistic but seriously I want to save a few bob, I do understand where he's coming from and wish I could be more sympathetic. I'm sort of of the view that what difference will it make if WE shop in the North too. It'll hardly save jobs????
I'd love to hear opinions from those who agree or disagree with my husbands view.
I would gladly shop here if the differences were just marginal but I've heard of people saving hundreds on buggys alone! What are we supposed to do....
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samanthajane
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Re: Shopping in North? Unpatriotic?
I think this is a case where shops, especially the larger chains that operate in ireland and the uk stop charging more in ireland. It didn't help with the VAT increase just before christmas either. I would say 90% of my christmas presents were got in the north, because it was a lot cheaper not just a couple of euros either, one presents for my son in symths at airside was €69.99 i got it in smyths in newry for £34.99. I did all my food shopping in sainburys ( apart from turkey and ham ) I had a trolley and a half of stuff.......€175!!! There is no way i could of got half of that if i had shopped in my local.
I remember a while ago a report about how much extra you paid for an item in ireland compared to the same product in the uk. Some big items like telly's there was a couple 100 in the difference.
If you were going to mothercare in the north to buy your baby things i dont think that is going to close down all the mothercares in ireland just yet. People are always going to look for the bargins and the sales and it's a fact as you said it is a lot cheaper to buy in the north, Yes the country needs help but we need to look after ourselves as well.
I think this is a case where shops, especially the larger chains that operate in ireland and the uk stop charging more in ireland. It didn't help with the VAT increase just before christmas either. I would say 90% of my christmas presents were got in the north, because it was a lot cheaper not just a couple of euros either, one presents for my son in symths at airside was €69.99 i got it in smyths in newry for £34.99. I did all my food shopping in sainburys ( apart from turkey and ham ) I had a trolley and a half of stuff.......€175!!! There is no way i could of got half of that if i had shopped in my local.
I remember a while ago a report about how much extra you paid for an item in ireland compared to the same product in the uk. Some big items like telly's there was a couple 100 in the difference.
If you were going to mothercare in the north to buy your baby things i dont think that is going to close down all the mothercares in ireland just yet. People are always going to look for the bargins and the sales and it's a fact as you said it is a lot cheaper to buy in the north, Yes the country needs help but we need to look after ourselves as well.