BY CATRIONA GALLEN
GROCERY items are up to 30 per cent cheaper across the border, diesel is ¤1.45 a litre and home heating oil is ¤1 a litre.
The cost of living is soaring and unemployment has risen by 2,175 on last year. People in Donegal are tightening their belts for the cold, hard winter of discontent ahead.
Chief Executive of Letterkenny Chamber of Commerce, Ms Toni Forrester this week called for a level playing field for consumers.
"There is a 30 per cent price difference in some grocery items in big brand stores here compared to across the border in Derry or Strabane. It is time the big names provided a level playing field. They should also be passing on the exchange in sterling rate and addressing the price difference," she said.
Consumers can view price comparisons on brand name stores and products by logging on to the website www.consumerconnect.ie where variances range from ¤4 for washing powder to over a euro for toothpaste.
"It's not a new phenomenon that people from Donegal have shopped across the border. People in places like Killea and Muff probably do it automatically, however for others it is less often. We have a good variety of shops here in Letterkenny and retailers have not been in contact to complain about a dramatic downturn in the economy. There is a tightness in the economy but there is not a wholesale exodus of consumers," maintained Ms Forrester.
"Retailers have reported trade is flat, although as one trader put it, last year's boom was an anomaly because of the SSIA savings money available. Better comparisons are made with 2006. People are shopping around more for bargains and the Chamber is working with our members to promote Letterkenny as a shopping area," said Ms Forrester.
"I think we can be in danger of talking ourselves into despair. There is good news stories in Letterkenny too. We've had two new restaurants open on the same week and two new ice-cream parlours open on the same week too. Letterkenny is a service based town and in the Chamber we're looking at ways of making the town shopper and pedestrian friendly and of marrying our new retail outlets with the main street," added Ms Forrester.
The squeeze on the worker's pay packet is an issue SIPTU Branch Organiser Mr Martin O'Rourke is working hard to address.
"It's easy to talk about a pay pause when on a high wage of ¤80,000 per year but for the person living on ¤30,000 a year it has a huge impact. People on the lowest incomes spend all their money on heating the house, keeping the car on the road and feeding the family. SIPTU will be seeking in the National talks if there is going to be a National agreement, to protect the interests of the workers, said Mr O'Rourke.
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