Independent and shopping up north article

J.pilkington

Rant ahead related to something I am passionate about

I see the independent (the tabloid paper where facts need not apply) has started the spin with sensationalist headlines about shopping up north. Do these journalists (mark o regan in this case) not have to do a course on journalism anymore where minimum strandards of journalism are taught?

Article is almost non existent on facts, looks like the journalist went out of his way to find high price variations and all they could come up with is special k (who pays €7 for special k down south? Nobody does so you shouldn't write an article based on this).

That article must have taken 10 mins to write, then slap a headline which is a lie. Is that what modern journalism is about? Is this what mark O'regan aspired to do when he was young?

Sad thing is a lot of people will fall for this and head north save nothing (even lose out after travel costs) and at the same time their local towns are dieing then they will wonder why there are so many boarded up shops and no employment. Shop local folks

http://m.independent.ie/business/irish/savvy-shoppers-flock-north-to-save-50pc-by-cashing-in-on-weak-sterling-34889750.html

Dirty Dingus McGee

J.pilkington wrote: »

Rant ahead related to something I am passionate about

I see the independent (the tabloid paper where facts need not apply) has started the spin with sensationalist headlines about shopping up north. Do these journalists (mark o regan in this case) not have to do a course on journalism anymore where minimum strandards of journalism are taught?

Article is almost non existent on facts, looks like the journalist went out of his way to find high price variations and all they could come up with is special k (who pays €7 for special k down south? Nobody does so you shouldn't write an article based on this).

That article must have taken 10 mins to write, then slap a headline which is a lie. Is that what modern journalism is about? Is this what mark O'regan aspired to do when he was young?

Sad thing is a lot of people will fall for this and head north save nothing (even lose out after travel costs) and at the same time their local towns are dieing then they will wonder why there are so many boarded up shops and no employment. Shop local folks

http://m.independent.ie/business/irish/savvy-shoppers-flock-north-to-save-50pc-by-cashing-in-on-weak-sterling-34889750.html

We can only hope that happens.

qo2cj1dsne8y4k

I'm buying all my stuff on asos/boohoo in £ rather than € and on average I'm saving between 6-9 euro per item, wouldn't be arsed driving to the north for a box of special k though, I'd eat the cardboard off the coco pops box first

SteM

Worst rant ever.

Alf Stewart.

Anyone wantin to save "up to 50%" on their shoppin bill should just put up with a lil name change and head to Aldi.

Penguin bars, buy "Seal" bars in Aldi
Lion bars / "Roar" in Aldi.
Hunky Dorys/ "okey dokeys"
O'Haras pale ale, / O'Sheas pale ale
Budweiser, = Breysters.

I don't see the point in payin more than double in some cases for the name of the brand on the packaging.

The Backwards Man

The average shopper from Dublin would have to buy about 200 bags of kettle chips in Banbridge to break even. Anyone stupid enough to read the Indo is stupid enough not to realise that though.

stimpson

Weekend in Belfast with the missus coming up. Executive suite in the Hilton Belfast: £120 per night. Similar room in Hilton Kilmainham: €239 per night

GreatDefector

Kettle Chips would set you back €2.37 in Northern Ireland compared with €2.49 in the South.

Fook me, someone should post in BA immediately

Duckworth_Luas

Alf Stewart. wrote: »

I don't see the point in payin more than double in some cases for the name of the brand on the packaging.

Exactly!

I used to buy the Irish Independent but now purchase Lidl Super Value Toilet Tissues instead.

seamusk84

stimpson wrote: »

Weekend in Belfast with the missus coming up. Executive suite in the Hilton Belfast: £120 per night. Similar room in Hilton Kilmainham: €239 per night

The only problem is you have to stay in Belfast.

Alf Stewart.

seamusk84 wrote: »

The only problem is you have to stay in Belfast.

Belfast is one of the best cities in Ireland!

Haven't been in a while, but its a chic and vibrant place, with a good food and bar scene.

kneemos

Alf Stewart. wrote: »

Belfast is one of the best cities in Ireland!

Haven't been in a while, but its a chic and vibrant place, with a good food and bar scene.

Aye.

riffmongous

stimpson wrote: »

Weekend in Belfast with the missus coming up. Executive suite in the Hilton Belfast: £120 per night. Similar room in Hilton Kilmainham: €239 per night

I wouldn't go to Belfast again if you payed me 100 euro per night

Subcomandante Marcos

If you lived within 45 minutes of a border town like Newry you'd be an idiot not to do your weekly shop in an Asda, Sainsbury's or Tesco up north, especially with the recent fall in sterling.
Even if you were just going to somewhere like Halfords or B&Q to spend a few hundred quid on stuff you'd be better off going north.

por ejemplo;

This bike is being sold by the same shop, Decathalon, a European wide sporting goods store's outlet in Belfast on two different websites, a .ie for the republic and a .co.uk for the north.

it's €389 in south and £299 or €357 in the south.

Now, in fairness to Decathalon, a lot of that price difference would be because of the VAT difference between north and south, and it's probably not worth your time driving from Dublin to Belfast to save €30, but if you lived in Dundalk and you had the choice of a halfords in Dundalk or driving 20km to the one in Newry and you were spending north of €1000, I'd be straight up the A1.

alias no.9

Alf Stewart. wrote: »

Belfast is one of the best cities in Ireland!

Haven't been in a while, but its a chic and vibrant place, with a good food and bar scene.

Cheap rooms in mid July too

kneemos

The **** is Special K made from?

Subcomandante Marcos

kneemos wrote: »

The **** is Special K made from?

According to the internet, 134567890g of sugar per 80g serving.

It's magic.

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

cournioni

Alf Stewart. wrote: »

Anyone wantin to save "up to 50%" on their shoppin bill should just put up with a lil name change and head to Aldi.

Penguin bars, buy "Seal" bars in Aldi
Lion bars / "Roar" in Aldi.
Hunky Dorys/ "okey dokeys"
O'Haras pale ale, / O'Sheas pale ale
Budweiser, = Breysters.

I don't see the point in payin more than double in some cases for the name of the brand on the packaging.

The humour put into the names of the products alone is enough to make me shop in Aldi.

cournioni

Patww79 wrote: »

Belfast isn't in Ireland.

Eh, yes it is.

mansize

Alf Stewart. wrote: »

Belfast is one of the best cities in Ireland!

Haven't been in a while, but its a chic and vibrant place, with a good food and bar scene.

It isn't though. Went there for Adele concert, could wait to get back to the Free State quick enough.

Fr_Dougal

Hopefully it will put some pressure on retailers down here to be a bit more competitive.

cournioni

mansize wrote: »

It isn't though. Went there for Adele concert, could wait to get back to the Free State quick enough.

There's your problem right there.

mansize

cournioni wrote: »

There's your problem right there.

She was great, Belfast, not so much...

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

stimpson

Id take Belfast over Kilmainham any day.

Never had any hassle in Belfast. Even in July. There are some great pubs up there and I've always found the people very friendly.

Alf Stewart.

mansize wrote: »

It isn't though. Went there for Adele concert, could wait to get back to the Free State quick enough.

I'm not surprised.

Adele concert?

She's a good singer, don't get me wrong, but what the fcuk happens at an Adele concert? Does everyone stand around wailing their lamps out about ex boyfriends, and love that was lost?

I'd be wanting to go home after that too mate.

biko

Unfortunately "shop local" for some people means to spend their money in foreign chains that happens to have local presence.

They go to Tesco, Lidl and Aldi instead of local Irish shops. In 10 year or less when the local shops are all killed by the major chains they will complain that "there is no local competition", "high street shops all the same" when in fact it was they themselves that helped kill small businesses.


Get local eggs, bread, fish etc Only get from chains what you can't get from local farmer or shops.
Do the bulk of the veg shopping at farmer's markets.

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

kneemos

biko wrote: »

Unfortunately "shop local" for some people means to spend their money in foreign chains that happens to have local presence.

They go to Tesco, Lidl and Aldi instead of local Irish shops. In 10 year or less when the local shops are all killed by the major chains they will complain that "there is no local competition", "high street shops all the same" when in fact it was they themselves that helped kill small businesses.


Get local eggs, bread, fish etc Only get from chains what you can't get from local farmer or shops.
Do the bulk of the veg shopping at farmer's markets.

You can buy the same Irish produce for a quarter of the price in the Supermarket. Farmers Markets are a complete piss take.

Chartsengrafs

stimpson wrote: »

Weekend in Belfast with the missus coming up. Executive suite in the Hilton Belfast: £120 per night. Similar room in Hilton Kilmainham: €239 per night

Just a heads up, you'll get stung for parking if you're taking the car. I stayed there for two nights and was left with a hefty bill.

edgecutter

stimpson wrote: »

Id take Belfast over Kilmainham any day.

Never had any hassle in Belfast. Even in July. There are some great pubs up there and I've always found the people very friendly.

Never had an hassle myself and the people are very friendly, but the city is a kip.

stimpson

Chartsengrafs wrote: »

Just a heads up, you'll get stung for parking if you're taking the car. I stayed there for two nights and was left with a hefty bill.

Saw that. £18 a day. No big deal. The Executive lounge has free drink so I'll make it back one way or another.

alias no.9

biko wrote: »

Unfortunately "shop local" for some people means to spend their money in foreign chains that happens to have local presence.

They go to Tesco, Lidl and Aldi instead of local Irish shops. In 10 year or less when the local shops are all killed by the major chains they will complain that "there is no local competition", "high street shops all the same" when in fact it was they themselves that helped kill small businesses.


Get local eggs, bread, fish etc Only get from chains what you can't get from local farmer or shops.
Do the bulk of the veg shopping at farmer's markets.

I'd never dream of buying my olives in a supermarket, farmers market all the way for me, you have to know where these things are coming from. I like to make my own humus too so the farmers market is my go to for chickpeas. As for sun dried tomatoes, support your local producers.

Turtyturd

What's the name of the OP's shop?

FortySeven

Ive had many a great night out in Belfast. One of my favourite cities due to the people. Great crowd.

kneemos

alias no.9 wrote: »

I'd never dream of buying my olives in a supermarket, farmers market all the way for me, you have to know where these things are coming from. I like to make my own humus too so the farmers market is my go to for chickpeas. As for sun dried tomatoes, support your local producers.

Olives are all imported?

FortySeven

kneemos wrote: »

Olives are all imported?

Haven't seen much sun here in Galway for drying tomatoes. Not many people producing chickpeas either?

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

FortySeven wrote: »

I be had many a great night out in Belfast. One of my favourite cities die to the people. Great crowd.

I assume that's a typo.

FortySeven

Garrett Weak Klutz wrote: »

I assume that's a typo.

An unfortunate one. Cheers.

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

murpho999

alias no.9 wrote: »

I'd never dream of buying my olives in a supermarket, farmers market all the way for me, you have to know where these things are coming from. I like to make my own humus too so the farmers market is my go to for chickpeas. As for sun dried tomatoes, support your local producers.

You do realise that not one single olive or chickpea in Ireland is grown here.

The "farmer" is selling you an imported product just like the supermarket?

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

alias no.9 wrote: »

I'd never dream of buying my olives in a supermarket, farmers market all the way for me, you have to know where these things are coming from. I like to make my own humus too so the farmers market is my go to for chickpeas. As for sun dried tomatoes, support your local producers.

I suppose you buy your bananas and oranges direct from the farmer too.



Let's face it. With the exchange rate today, shopping is unfortunately more attractive in the North right now. Citing travel cost etc is all very well but many people live close to the border, or closer than to Dublin. The savings are certainly there at present but I like to spend locally myself even at a premium.

kneemos

Garrett Weak Klutz wrote: »

I suppose you buy your bananas and oranges direct from the farmer too.



Let's face it. With the exchange rate today, shopping is unfortunately more attractive in the North right now. Citing travel cost etc is all very well but many people live close to the border, or closer than to Dublin. The savings are certainly there at present but I like to spend locally myself even at a premium.

Actually saw a woman selling Bananas at a farmers market once.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

kneemos wrote: »

Actually saw a woman selling Bananas at a farmers market once.

As have I many times. It just proves the whole nonsense of the things.

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

alias no.9

murpho999 wrote: »

You do realise that not one single olive or chickpea in Ireland is grown here.

The "farmer" is selling you an imported product just like the supermarket?

Did the post really need sarcasm tags?

alias no.9

kneemos wrote: »

Actually saw a woman selling Bananas at a farmers market once.

Now we're starting to get it. Some farmers markets have some local producers but anybody with a clue of what is in season and what can conceivably be produced in Ireland, even in polytunnels, will see the sham that is most farmers markets.

biko

biko wrote: »

Unfortunately "shop local" for some people means to spend their money in foreign chains that happens to have local presence.

They go to Tesco, Lidl and Aldi instead of local Irish shops. In 10 year or less when the local shops are all killed by the major chains they will complain that "there is no local competition", "high street shops all the same" when in fact it was they themselves that helped kill small businesses.

I doubt anybody who uses the term "high street" would ever have buying Irish as a priority. As for buying in foreign chains this is 100% the fault of the gougers who run Ireland's largest retail chain, Super Valu. They have the economies of scale to easily compete with the Brits and Germans but the billionaire Musgrave family ( who also own Centra etc) would rather fleece Irish consumers. No price-conscious Irish shopper would do their regular shopping in Super Valu. As for the Apartheid lovers who own Dunnes Stores - some of us aren't going to forget what that family (and the cokehead, hooker-loving individual who ran the firm and now tries to present himself as affable) did. The idea of giving business to the average tax-avoiding, offshore-account holding super rich Irish firm simply because they're Irish never appealed to me. Equally, I would never shop in M&S because, aside from being all fur coat and no knickers, they buy next to nothing from Irish producers.

biko wrote: »

Get local eggs, bread, fish etc Only get from chains what you can't get from local farmer or shops.
Do the bulk of the veg shopping at farmer's markets.

This I agree with 100%. Well said.

Capt'n Midnight

kneemos wrote: »

Actually saw a woman selling Bananas at a farmers market once.

They are most likely Irish because they are manufactured in Ireland.

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.