Shopping in Northern Ireland

johnnyboy4711 · 30-10-2008 1:09pm

thought i wouldnt be busy!
boy was I wrong!
asda was like christmas time already half the cars from the south,MANIC!
You would need elbows of steel to get through the crowds!
Great bargains to be had in asda alright but not an awful lot else in the town!
went through the erneside SC to the main street with woolies etc and not a lot there.
Tesco was empty at the same time as there prices are way off(or asda's are really good)
heinz baby rice 1£ in asda same one in Tesco 2£.
no wonder people dont go there!
I will be stocking up for christmas in november for sure,this time I hope there is no feckin road works on the way into the town,2 1/2 hours drive and nearly an hour in traffic because of them,took the shine off a tad!
slan
john

TarfHead · 30-10-2008 1:11pm

aquascrotum wrote: »

My handy hint for the day - Sainsburys in Armagh. Not as big as Newry but it carries 90% of the stuff with 5% of the hassle

Armagh is circa 90mins from Dublin via M1/N2/Keady.

Similar journey time to Sprucefield, and Sprucefield Sainsburys is much bigger than Newry. What's the advantage - avoiding the Newry bypass ?

TarfHead · 30-10-2008 1:17pm

okidoki987 wrote: »

Went to Ikea yesterday, went to use a credit card and the bloke said,
"I'll have to charge you 1% to use the credit card as the credit card companies charge us!"
There was no charge for Irish Laser card, the rate for Euro was 0.7500.
Noticed very few ROI reg's in Ikea yesterday must have been the day of the week, a lot of the stuff we wanted also wasn't in stock .
Tried to get into Newy and after 15 minutes of not moving gave up.

Sorry for your trouble

I posted yesterday, or the day before, about the vagaries of RoI cards & exchange rates in IKEA. Although they may not charge you for using your RoI debit card, Maestro will. They charged me 4.5% for using my BoI LASER/Maestro/Cirrus card in IKEA.

Also, for future reference, the IKEA website can advise what is currently in stock. We checked it before heading off so were reasonably confident of getting what we were after - and we did. Not sure though if you can reserve items.

aquascrotum · 30-10-2008 1:20pm

Bond-007 wrote: »

You evil bastard!

Where in Armagh is the sainsburys? Is it a case of you can't miss it?

Sainsburys Armagh is in the imaginatively named Mall Shopping Centre, on the Mall. Coming from the South or West will eventually bring you to the town centre, follow A29 to Dungannon/Moy, which will bring you around the Mall West. Once you're there you cant miss it. Bring 30p for parking though.

To the other poster re- Sprucefield...you're fairly caning it to do Dublin-Sprucefield in 90 minutes?? From the airport, maybe, I'm generally timing from Glasnevin direction. Armagh is an hour from Drogheda. Certainly though, the works to the Newry bypass are only going to get more restrictive over the next few months, imo to be avoided at peak times. If you're going off peak then theres no need to go out of the way.

TarfHead · 30-10-2008 1:27pm

aquascrotum wrote: »

To the other poster re- Sprucefield...you're fairly caning it to do Dublin-Sprucefield in 90 minutes??

Yeah, I start the clock, as it were, from the airport. Everything before that is a lottery. We got to IKEA on Monday before 11 and were heading past the airport at around 9. I generally kept within the speed limit.

muffler · 30-10-2008 1:40pm

In reply to the couple of posts re credit card exchange rates I think people should either buy the sterling in advance or even withdraw money (bank account) from an ATM in Northern Ireland as there is no handling charge.

Most of the stores give a reasonable exchange rate if paying in Euro and its worth the price of a phone call to the store to find out the rate before you embark on your journey.

aquascrotum · 30-10-2008 1:51pm

TarfHead wrote: »

Yeah, I start the clock, as it were, from the airport. Everything before that is a lottery. We got to IKEA on Monday before 11 and were heading past the airport at around 9. I generally kept within the speed limit.

That would make sense...though my suggestion would be aimed at the times when Newry is choked, in which case you'd definitely not be making Sprucefield in 90 mins. Traffic on Monday was probably taking 30-40mins to get from the approach to Cloghogue r/a to the Mourne Country roundabout (last one on the bypass).

Plus you'd get to marvel at the delights of Armagh :eek:

Our man in Havana · 30-10-2008 2:09pm

muffler wrote: »

In reply to the couple of posts re credit card exchange rates I think people should either buy the sterling in advance or even withdraw money (bank account) from an ATM in Northern Ireland as there is no handling charge.

Most of the stores give a reasonable exchange rate if paying in Euro and its worth the price of a phone call to the store to find out the rate before you embark on your journey.

Sage advice there Muffler. Argos in Newry were offering £0.75 yesterday, Sainsburys 76p which are quite poor rates imho.

I always use my ATM card and get sterling cash. Any left over can be used on a future trip so no waste there.

okidoki987 · 30-10-2008 3:20pm

Exit 15 on M50 to Ikea yesterday took 2hr 20mins non stop.
For most of trip up traffic was fine but bypassing Newry took about 30 mins and same again coming back.
What nobody has mentioned before and needs to be taken into account
is the cost in petrol.
Cost me €60 in petrol return.

aquascrotum · 30-10-2008 3:37pm

okidoki987 wrote: »

What nobody has mentioned before and needs to be taken into account
is the cost in petrol.
Cost me €60 in petrol return.

To be fair, €60 sounds extremely excessive. You're either driving very inefficiently or your car has problems (or its a tank/American muscle car??). By my reckoning your averaging in the region of 16mpg on a motorway journey?

Your return trip was in the region of 260miles. Most cars would average 40mpg, in fact most would do more as its a good motorway jaunt. Using 40mpg, you should have used 6.5gallons - about 30litres, at say €1.20/l for petrol and diesel at the mo = €36.

In my case, I average 55mpg, and my local diesel is €1.15.Your trip would have cost me €25.

Its fair to say that on a 2-weekly or even weekly shop, and not taking booze into account, the majority of shoppers are saving far in excess of €36 on a trip. In fact more, as the grocery shoppers dont generally seem to be going as far as Belfast.

Moonbeam · 30-10-2008 4:14pm

That is a huge cost of fuel.

It is just under 100miles round trip for me to Newry and I get about 40mpg
so costs me about 13.75 or so my mathematical skills reckon:)
Which I think is pretty good considering the price differences.

kingshankly · 30-10-2008 4:23pm

you dont have to go to newry via the m1 you can go into dundalk take the armagh road head for forkhill you come into newry at the roundabout at the exit between dundalk and the newry bypass you can then either go down the hill or go via the bypass i would sometimes go to belfast that way if the time is dodgy was in sainsburys yesterday morning shortly after 8 had the shop to myself

TarfHead · 30-10-2008 4:50pm

okidoki987 wrote: »

Cost me €60 in petrol return.

At first read, I assumed the poster had filled the tank in NI ? That would explain that cost. Our round trip last week was, approx., 230 miles and I guess we consumed 30 litres in a 1.6 ZAFIRA. On the return trip, the car had a lot more weight.

30 litres @ €1.15 = €34.50.

LightningBolt · 30-10-2008 4:58pm

okidoki987 wrote: »

What nobody has mentioned before and needs to be taken into account
is the cost in petrol.
Cost me €60 in petrol return.

You must have a small engine and drove with a high rev count or else you've a problem with the car.

Our man in Havana · 30-10-2008 5:07pm

My return mileage to Newry is almost 300 and that costs me about €50. My car does about 32mpg.

aquascrotum · 30-10-2008 5:16pm

TarfHead wrote: »

At first read, I assumed the poster had filled the tank in NI ?

Even at that, petrol round Belfast at the supermarkets is down to around the £1/litre mark (about E1.25).

Our man in Havana · 30-10-2008 5:19pm

Does Sainsburys in Newry have a petrol station?

aquascrotum · 30-10-2008 5:25pm

Nope, closed. Think the ground is more valuable as an overflow carpark! It's impossible to sell fuel in the NI border regions.

TarfHead · 30-10-2008 5:30pm

Bond-007 wrote: »

Does Sainsburys in Newry have a petrol station?

Another reason to go on to Sprucefield

. We were given a receipt at the supermarket till that could be used for, IIRC, a 5p discount per litre at the Sainsburys petrol station.

Any trip to The Quays Newry between now and Christmas has the potential to be a nightmare and a disappointment.

aquascrotum · 30-10-2008 5:42pm

TarfHead wrote: »

Another reason to go on to Sprucefield . We were given a receipt at the supermarket till that could be used for, IIRC, a 5p discount per litre at the Sainsburys petrol station.

Even with 5p/l off your still paying more than you would at the 1st petrol station over the border in RoI though....for every RoI reg going north to buy washing powder theres an NI reg heading straight past for the cheap petrol/diesel.

Fill up before you leave. Unless your in one of Okidoki's armoured battletanks you won't need to fill up again until you're home.

etcetc · 30-10-2008 6:04pm

confession time

mistakes made yesterday

heinz beans 4 pack £1.99 sainsburys
buy 2 for £2.50 in dunnes

500g special k £2.79 sainsburys
750g pack £2.75

kerrygold big size £1.89 sainsburys
£1.49 in dunnes

mistakes not made
coca cola 2 litre £1 in dunnes
diet club orange 2 litre 80 something
7 up 2 litre cant remember less than a pound maybe 74p
all soft drinks were regular price in sainsburys no specials that i seen

now that ive come clean how about the rest of ye

muffler · 30-10-2008 6:33pm

etcetc wrote: »

confession time

mistakes made yesterday

heinz beans 4 pack £1.99 sainsburys
buy 2 for £2.50 in dunnes

500g special k £2.79 sainsburys
750g pack £2.75

kerrygold big size £1.89 sainsburys
£1.49 in dunnes

mistakes not made
coca cola 2 litre £1 in dunnes
diet club orange 2 litre 80 something
7 up 2 litre cant remember less than a pound maybe 74p
all soft drinks were regular price in sainsburys no specials that i seen

now that ive come clean how about the rest of ye

A link to your original post would help.

And Im not sure what you mean by

now that ive come clean how about the rest of ye

etcetc · 30-10-2008 6:41pm

A link to your original post would help.

And Im not sure what you mean by
Quote:
now that ive come clean how about the rest of ye

sorry for confusion just trying to help others avoid making same mistakes i did

if others do the same all the better

muffler · 30-10-2008 6:52pm

Im none the wiser.

okidoki987 · 30-10-2008 7:55pm

2 litre tank otherwise known as a people carrier.
Filled it in Dublin, €60 @ 1.22 a litre, did 445 km and empty when I got back to Dublin working out about 9 km per litre.
Sounds over the top all right.

Our man in Havana · 30-10-2008 7:57pm

aquascrotum wrote: »

Nope, closed. Think the ground is more valuable as an overflow carpark! It's impossible to sell fuel in the NI border regions.

Strange as I was given a voucher for 5p a litre off petrol or diesel.

brettmirl · 30-10-2008 8:02pm

Quick question about buying drink...

From what time of the day can you buy spirits and beer in Sainsburys?
Or can you buy it from the time they open (8am)?

Our man in Havana · 30-10-2008 8:21pm

I believe so. On Sundays they don't open until 1pm.

aquascrotum · 30-10-2008 8:50pm

Bond-007 wrote: »

Strange as I was given a voucher for 5p a litre off petrol or diesel.

All Sainsburys do this as far as I'm aware - the Armagh one does and there's never been a fuel station attached.

As I said previously though, to an RoI resident they're of little use unless you're stuck in NI with an empty tank.

bagels · 30-10-2008 9:18pm

hi,

my better half rescues cats from the GSPCA cat shelter and adopts strays;
we have 5 cats at the moment;
cat food has become very expensive in county galway lately;

would we save much by shopping for same in enniskillen?

price comparisons would be welcome;
thanks
bagels

DonJose · 30-10-2008 9:50pm

bagels wrote: »

would we save much by shopping for same in enniskillen?

Don't know about cat food but I shopped in Asda Enniskillen and bought dog food, bought a 5kg bag of Bakers for £6, they sell 3kg bags of bakers in Tesco for €8.78, works out the following per kilo

Tesco 3kg = €8.78 = 1kg €2.92

Asda 5kg = £6 = €7.64 = 1kg €1.52

I'd say you would get twice more cat food in Enniskillen for the same money down south.

irishguy · 30-10-2008 9:56pm

I was thinking of going up to do a bit of christmas shopping where would people recommend going? From Dublin. Would be going a thursday morning so traffic should be ok.

Our man in Havana · 30-10-2008 10:10pm

From now on Newry will be a warzone at all hours. Avoid.

Better to head to Sprucefield, Armagh, Belfast.

Tabitharose · 30-10-2008 10:44pm

bagels wrote: »

hi,
would we save much by shopping for same in enniskillen?

it depends on the type of food tbh all with your regular supermarket brands whiskas etc there's usually something on special offer (check out the sainsburys / asda website for details) if you're looking at foods like royal canin etc then generally no there isn't too much of a saving in fact it can be cheaper on this side of the border. With cat litter you will generally be able to buy it cheaper in NI.

there's a jollies pet shop by the bus station in enniskillen afaik.;)

Charlton1 · 31-10-2008 12:13am

Can anyone give me directions to Sprucefield,? I know how to get to Sainsburys in Newry, but can't face the madness anymore..

Our man in Havana · 31-10-2008 12:35am

Carry on the A1 for about 30 mins until just before the start of the M1 motorway to Belfast. Take a left at the roundabout before the motorway and you will see Sprucefield on your right.

CM21 · 31-10-2008 12:50am

Anyone know of any good furniture shops up there? Looking for a decent sofa.
Thanks

milly4ever · 31-10-2008 12:52am

ikea, fultons, dekko on boucher road, just off M1

johnfás · 31-10-2008 1:49am

Can you use televisions bought in the north with analogue NTL down here in Dublin? I know it certainly used to be the case that the tuner band NTL used was not available on televisions sold in Britain.

Charlton1 · 31-10-2008 8:41am

Thanks for that.

aquascrotum · 31-10-2008 10:10am

johnfás wrote: »

Can you use televisions bought in the north with analogue NTL down here in Dublin? I know it certainly used to be the case that the tuner band NTL used was not available on televisions sold in Britain.

Is the NTL tuning not carried out by the NTL box and the signal forwarded to the tv by scard/hdmi/RF cable?

Best to post in a techie section in any case.

Moonbeam · 31-10-2008 12:25pm

We noticed petrol up north was actually cheaper in places then down here especially tescos with the 5c a litre off vouchers.Out of habit I had filled up down here before heading up though.

Our man in Havana · 31-10-2008 12:40pm

With your Sainsburys 5p off voucher that makes the petrol 92.9p a litre which works out at €1.18 at todays rate. I can easily get petrol here for 114.9 cent a litre.

TarfHead · 31-10-2008 2:53pm

aquascrotum wrote: »

Is the NTL tuning not carried out by the NTL box and the signal forwarded to the tv by scard/hdmi/RF cable?

Best to post in a techie section in any case.

Poster is asking about analog, i.e. co-axial cable.

I know that used to be the case - our family's first colour TV was bought in Lurgan and my father had to get a UHF/VHF converter to make it work. That's the question that needs answering, in a techie section.

DonJose · 31-10-2008 3:54pm

I've got another reason to shop in the North, the ISME, the cheeky feckers who represent small and medium Irish businesses are now claiming, "that Irish shoppers heading abroad are killing Irish jobs, undermining local businesses and robbing the Irish economy of millions of euro in unpaid taxes."

I understand they mean US flights but I can find something cheaper abroad I'm going to buy it.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2008/1027/breaking13.htm

Well it if wasnt for the Irish shop ripping off Irish consumers we wouldn't have to shop abroad. I had only planned on buying day to day items in the south, like milk bread and eggs, now I'm going to buy a Northie chicken, buy milk in bulk and freeze it and bake my own bread

Cheeky fecking b@stards is all I can say.

bagels · 31-10-2008 4:00pm

DonJose wrote: »

Don't know about cat food but I shopped in Asda Enniskillen and bought dog food, bought a 5kg bag of Bakers for £6, they sell 3kg bags of bakers in Tesco for €8.78, works out the following per kilo

Tesco 3kg = €8.78 = 1kg €2.92

Asda 5kg = £6 = €7.64 = 1kg €1.52

I'd say you would get twice more cat food in Enniskillen for the same money down south.

thanks for the advice
regds
bagels

bagels · 31-10-2008 4:01pm

Tabitharose wrote: »

it depends on the type of food tbh all with your regular supermarket brands whiskas etc there's usually something on special offer (check out the sainsburys / asda website for details) if you're looking at foods like royal canin etc then generally no there isn't too much of a saving in fact it can be cheaper on this side of the border. With cat litter you will generally be able to buy it cheaper in NI.

there's a jollies pet shop by the bus station in enniskillen afaik.;)

many thanks
regds
bagels

ronbyrne2005 · 31-10-2008 4:52pm

2 one litre bottles of spirits (smirnoff etc) for 20£sterling in tesco uk/Northern Ireland this weekend. Saw advert in Northern Irish Newspaper which i don't have at present but nearly sure it said 2 one litres for 20sterling.

gazzer · 31-10-2008 4:54pm

ronbyrne2005 wrote: »

2 one litre bottles of spirits (smirnoff etc) for 20£sterling in tesco uk/Northern Ireland this weekend. Saw advert in Northern Irish Newspaper which i don't have at present but nearly sure it said 2 one litres for 20sterling.

Thats a great deal. I am heading up to Enniskillen on Sunday so I will be sure to head in to Tesco. Cheers for the heads up.

brettmirl · 31-10-2008 5:23pm

I think they work out around €29 each down here!

http://www.supermarketspecialoffers.com/BeerandDrinkOffers.aspx

On page 19:

Smirnoff Red Label Vodka 1 Litre
Tesco
Price - £13.00
Offer - 2 for £20.00
Valid until - 02/11/2008

Shopping in Northern Ireland

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