Dublin's Christmas lights were switched on in the middle of November, in a move designed to give a boost to the city's traders in these days of the credit crunch. At the ceremony the mayor urged the public to do their shopping south of the Border, saying that it was their "patriotic duty" to do so. Other politicians in the Republic have gone on to say that not to do so would constitute an act of anti-patriotic sabotage. No one says so, in as many words, but these utterances are aimed at people who are contemplating spending their money in Northern Ireland. One can understand the seriousness of the economic crisis, North and South, but such comments make distressing reading for those of us in the North who see the island of Ireland as being all one, in as many ways as are practicable.
In the Autumn of 2007 when Aer Lingus was switching its Heathrow services from Shannon to Belfast, the view of the southern Establishment was that prices and operating costs were lower in the North, and that the changes made by the airline were in keeping with the thrust towards an all-Ireland economy. That was then, this is now. It is not so long ago, either, that Mary Harney, then as now a government minister, considering complaints about rising prices, advised the Irish people to "shop around" and look for the best bargains. Now that the same people have taken her at her word, their quest has been branded as 'unpatriotic'. There is no pleasing some people.
The city of Newry has become the chief beneficiary of this exodus of shoppers heading North. At the weeknds there are tailbacks stretching five or six miles, as trippers come up from the Republic to stock up with goods that they can buy cheaper in the North. VAT in the Republic went up in the recent budget to 21.5%, whereas the rate was reduced (as a temporary measure), in the UK by 2.5%. The disparate rates can have a noticeable effect on the prices of electrical appliances and other consumer goods, such as refrigerators, washing machines, and various 'white' goods. The Euro is hovering at about 85p these days, and you cannot stop people voting with their euros.
On top of these differentials in VAT rates, prices of clothes, textiles and foodstuffs tend to be higher in the Republic. A correspondent to a Dublin newspaper has recently pointed out that a pound of Irish butter, sourced in the Republic costs almost twice as much in the Republic as it does in the North. Other goods, imported from continental Europe drop some 50% of their price when they move the extra 55 miles up across the Border. There is a widespread belief that the big supermarket chains, many of them British-owned, are profiteering prodigiously by charging more for their goods in the Republic than they do in the UK itself, or in the North. Breakdowns of costs and profits for these groups are not easy to access and the farmers and producers of dairy products note that the prices charged in the stores bear little relation to what they receive for the goods which they provide. Consumer groups in the Republic have for long been calling for an effective watchdog agency to monitor and to govern retail prices.
North-South trade works both ways. In recent years it paid motorists living within 20 miles or so of the Border to buy their petrol in the Republic, with the result that many filling stations on the Northern side were facing great difficulties, if they managed to survive at all. Calls for an equalisation of tax levels on petrol in areas close to the Border fell upon deaf ears. Things may even out in the long run, but that is not how the situation is perceived at the moment by traders on the southern side of the Border.
There is no question of 'sealing' the Border, as was done by both jurisdictions before Britain and Ireland joined the European Economic Community in 1973. You would get the impression that some of these politicians who would dissuade shoppers from spending their money in the North have never heard of the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, and its guarantee of an Irish identity to all on the entire island of Ireland to all who wished to claim it. No wonder that the North's Finance Minister, Nigel Dodds is wryly amused at southern 'protectionist' attitudes, whilst in the same breath they call for more effective cross-border initiatives.
Politicians from North and South could do worse than to give their attention to the European Union Consumer Policy Strategy 2007-2013 which states, inter alia: "Opening up cross-border retail markets is the key to unlocking the potential of the retail internal market. As cross-border shopping develops as a credible alternative to national markets, consumers both have greater choice and national markets are subject to greater competition."
The bickering and begrudgery emanating from some sources in the Republic these days is in no way in keeping with the ideals and the visions of the founding fathers of the European Unionism, and is nothing more than an exercise in 'Mé Féinism'.
In evidence the court heard that a dispute had arisen between a local family and a popular hotel in the neighbourhood. The family were refusing to pay in full, after they had expressed their dismay at the way in which the hotel had handled the arrangements after a recent wedding ceremony. The family alleged that the hotel was unheated and that the warmest item on the bill of fare was the chilled champagne. The hotel blamed the engineers who had overhauled the heating system just a few weeks earlier, and said that they had done their utmost to deal with a difficult situation as well as they could in the circumstances. "It would seem to me" said the presiding judge, "That these people got a frosty reception."
A 23 year old Santa Claus was recently sacked from Selfridges in London after he had invited a lady customer to sit on his lap, after being advised by one of his elves that such invitations were out of line with the company's policy. He claimed that he was only trying to be friendly. And after all, doesn't Santa come from lapland?
TV3 has announced that publicans in the Republic have concluded that, "Desperate times require desperate measures." This does not mean that they will be putting less in the glasses, but that they will freeze the price of drinks for a year, in a move to get the punters back into the pubs.
At the Labour Party Congress in Kilkenny last weekend Deputy Leader Joan Burton warned against a takeover of the Irish banks by venture capitalists.
In her supplied text this appears as "vulture capitalists."
The Policing Board has to find some £90 million to cover damages being claimed by former RUC men, who had their hearing damaged in firearms training. A Unionist MP explains that, unlike police forces in GB, the PSNI does not have enough reserves.
Perhaps a sum of money could have been earmarked?
