Shopping in the North - Unpatriotic or what?

RiverWilde

Unpatriotic my arse! We're all Irish! Southern Irish or British Irish. We all need to live and eat. It's all well and good saying support the shops down here; however, when we see the establishment obviously creaming it why the hell should we just bend over?

hellboy99

Zonda999 wrote: »

I honestly think this will sort itself out. The Irish shops HAVE to lower their prices, and keep them low until the sterling picks up against the euro.

To be honest with you I can't see it happening, I'm of the opinion that businesses here in the south are that greedy and stupid that they would rather go out of business than give us a bargin.

It's a joke what is happening here in the Republic (a united Ireland my arse), in my local Dunnes the other day and they have black marked out the sterling prices on their clothes. The difference in prices between Dunnes, Argos, Currys etc ... north and south is a joke.
I can buy Guinness cheaper up the north and it's made here in the south, I can buy a Dell PC (VAT or no VAT) cheaper in the north and they get them built and shipped up to them from Limerick, where's the logic and justification in that
So much for us being an EU country, don't even get me started about VRT :mad:

The government are really not doing themselves any favours, and I think people are that fed up with them that sooner rather than later we are going to start seeing a lot more protests. The sooner an election comes the better.

Colonel Sanders

I will shop where evr I get the best value. If thats 50 miles up the M1 then so be it

Unpatriotic? F*ck that. It was unpatriotic of Fianna Failure to sell the country to the highest bidder and let inflation get out of hand during the boom years.

MacBuster

I am all for people saving money as they government are pure scum and as the retailers here.

I live in Dundalk and shop regularly in the North but the situation is crazy now as the cheaper prices are attracting every bit of scum from Ireland and blocking the motorway...Currently there are 15KM tailbacks from south to north.

I go the local way and avoid all that but the greed is crazy, as because these people are not up to buy food or necessities but drink on a wholesale level, I walked around Sainsburies about an hour ago and every trolley was stacked with booze it was disgusting to look at, every knacker in a tracksuit from laois to dublin was grabbing booze like it was going out off fashion.

I don't mind high taxation down here on booze as it might save a few lives but apart from that it is a rip off...

My mate has to regularly bring his sick toddler to a certain hospital in belfast and these morons are blocking a major route because they want to fill their gullets with booze it is actually quite sick what people will do for drink..:mad:

efb

If only JJB had an offie, all scobs needs under one roof

MacBuster

efb wrote: »

If only JJB had an offie, all scobs needs under one roof

LOL

A Dub in Glasgo

MacBuster wrote: »

I am all for people saving money as they government are pure scum and as the retailers here.

I live in Dundalk and shop regularly in the North but the situation is crazy now as the cheaper prices are attracting every bit of scum from Ireland and blocking the motorway...Currently there are 15KM tailbacks from south to north.

I go the local way and avoid all that but the greed is crazy, as because these people are not up to buy food or necessities but drink on a wholesale level, I walked around Sainsburies about an hour ago and every trolley was stacked with booze it was disgusting to look at, every knacker in a tracksuit from laois to dublin was grabbing booze like it was going out off fashion.

I don't mind high taxation down here on booze as it might save a few lives but apart from that it is a rip off...

My mate has to regularly bring his sick toddler to a certain hospital in belfast and these morons are blocking a major route because they want to fill their gullets with booze it is actually quite sick what people will do for drink..:mad:

Please, who will think of the children!! Get a grip on yourself

Scottie99

Didn't the Government some months ago tell us to shop around and get the best value. I have......................in the North!:D

Our man in Havana

MacBuster wrote: »

I am all for people saving money as they government are pure scum and as the retailers here.

I live in Dundalk and shop regularly in the North but the situation is crazy now as the cheaper prices are attracting every bit of scum from Ireland and blocking the motorway...Currently there are 15KM tailbacks from south to north.

I go the local way and avoid all that but the greed is crazy, as because these people are not up to buy food or necessities but drink on a wholesale level, I walked around Sainsburies about an hour ago and every trolley was stacked with booze it was disgusting to look at, every knacker in a tracksuit from laois to dublin was grabbing booze like it was going out off fashion.

I don't mind high taxation down here on booze as it might save a few lives but apart from that it is a rip off...

My mate has to regularly bring his sick toddler to a certain hospital in belfast and these morons are blocking a major route because they want to fill their gullets with booze it is actually quite sick what people will do for drink..:mad:

Cop yourself on and less of the insults. I am offended by your comments on Laois people.

BendiBus

What's patriotic about

• choosing the South in preference to the North
• Supporting price gouging retailers
• Shopping in Argos/Currys/any other British store south of the border

It's utter nonsense to suggest crossing the border to save money is in any way unpatriotic.

RobBrn

Un-Patriotic?
What a load of rubbish.

First of all we are in a EU Single Market.

Before the Single Market we were prohibited by the Government from bringing any amount goods with a total value of more than £12 (about €14.50), unless we were outside the state for more than 48 hours, which virtually eliminated cross border shopping.
In the words of the then Minister of Finance, Ray McSharry "we cannot tolerate" this cross border shopping.
The Single market ended that particular type of repression
So now the Government can't pull that stunt again.
But we have the likes of Mary Coughlan with her huge salary and massive expenses telling us we are un-patriotic if we buy were we get the best value and most for our families and of course, what the real concern of the Minister and the Cabinet is "do the Government out of their VAT"

I say, "to hell with them" and in nearly the words of the song
"GO NORTH WHERE THE GOODS ARE CHEAP”"

Latchy

Do-more wrote: »

Are we not all Europeans these days?

Indeed ,while i can understand keeping money in the irish ecomomy to keep it ticking over, in most case people will put a bargin before patriotisim .We are in europe and capitalism and patritriotism dont mix .

dubscribe

I've just taken the survey, as I'm sure many of you have as well.

94% of us will shop up North or wherever we find a bargain and right now that's up North.

I wish the politicans would check out these surveys.

This is the "wo(man) on the street" talking to you guys/gals - WHEN are you going to listen to us?????????????? :mad:

The_Conductor

Bond-007 wrote: »

Cop yourself on and less of the insults. I am offended by your comments on Laois people.

With all due respect- Laois wasn't the only county he picked on in his post. While I disagree with the way he phrased it- he does have a point. Ordinary people who just want to do a bit of grocery shopping, visit the Armagh Planaterium, Portaferry or where-ever, are being mobbed by fools with hundreds of litres of booze.

If you want to go grocery shopping- take a day off work- pick a weekday- get there by 10-11AM and out again by 2PM- and you'll be fine.

While I disagree with his posting style- he most certainly does have a valid point.

A Dub in Glasgo

smccarrick wrote: »

With all due respect- Laois wasn't the only county he picked on in his post. While I disagree with the way he phrased it- he does have a point. Ordinary people who just want to do a bit of grocery shopping, visit the Armagh Planaterium, Portaferry or where-ever, are being mobbed by fools with hundreds of litres of booze.

If you want to go grocery shopping- take a day off work- pick a weekday- get there by 10-11AM and out again by 2PM- and you'll be fine.

While I disagree with his posting style- he most certainly does have a valid point.

The valid point being? It is OK for 'me' to go and get some bargains but no way is it OK for the unwashed hordes??

RobBrn

smccarrick wrote: »

While I disagree with his posting style- he most certainly does have a valid point.

No he doesn''t
He lives in Dundalk.
Dundalk people were not included in the "48 hour rule" restriction on shopping in the 80's.
Dundalk people have always gone shopping in the North when it suited their wallets.
It's not that many years ago that every petrol station between Dundalk and the Border was closed because they all bought their petrol in the North
Shopping in the North is not the the exclusive right of people from Dundalk.
Time to WAKE UP

RobBrn

A Dub in Glasgo wrote: »

The valid point being? It is OK for 'me' to go and get some bargains but no way is it OK for the unwashed hordes??

You got it nearly right

It's OK for Dundalk people to go and get some bargains but no way is it OK for anyone else

gingernut79

I dont see the government turning away people from the North who come down here to fill up their cars

The_Conductor

gingernut79 wrote: »

I dont see the government turning away people from the North who come down here to fill up their cars

Most filling stations within a 20 mile of the border are almost exclusively customed by yellow plate regs at the moment.......

The whole idea of the EU, and indeed EFTA- was/is closer integration between the disparate countries. This was to have been both economically but also politically. Thats why we are all free to go to Newry, or Le Havre or where-ever and buy whatever we like (providing we can prove its for personal consumption).

I would like to see those filling their Ford Transits with crates of booze trying to say they are purely for personal consumption- very obviously they are not.

I'm not a teetotaller by any means- but it is ridiculous seeing a family with 12 trolleys full of beer- no other shopping whatsoever, and then blocking the exit to the carpark for 20 minutes while they try to figure how to fit them into the van.......

Of course the government is to blame for the vast differences in prices between the two jurisdictions- and its entirely understandable that any sane person will do their utmost to make the most of their cash, sometimes you do have to wonder whether you have a moral duty to help those who appear to be incapable of helping themselves though?

Re: the queues on the A1 before Newry- the blasting just after Ravensdale, along with that fecking ridiculous roundabout at Jonesborough is more to blame than anything else.......?

meathstevie

Has anyone even realised that by shopping in the North you drive down the profits and turnover of retail companies in the South, the same companies that are giving you bargains up North and fleece you down South ! Eventually it's going to amount to a massive amount of egg on the face of the management and the government. Result : price equalisation and mission accomplished.

RiverWilde

I and my family were in Enniskillen this morning - just back home now - anyway, we arrived at asda between 8.30 and 9.00am and it was busy but not insane - by half ten you couldn't move for trolleys! I picked up one bottle of my favourite whiskey - Jameson - for 17 quid! I'd not buy it in a fit down here in the south. As it's only a two hour drive from where I live my trips to the north will only increase in frequency. I work hard; why the hell shouldn't I take my money where I can get the best return?

Riv

hellboy99

smccarrick wrote: »

Most filling stations within a 20 mile of the border are almost exclusively customed by yellow plate regs at the moment.......

Most of them are probably southern owned cars

smccarrick wrote: »

I'm not a teetotaller by any means- but it is ridiculous seeing a family with 12 trolleys full of beer- no other shopping whatsoever, and then blocking the exit to the carpark for 20 minutes while they try to figure how to fit them into the van......

It is ridiculous to see alright, have been in Sainsburys myself a few times this week and the que of trolleys going in and out of the drink section full to the brim with drink was unreal (thank god I don't drink), either some people have problems or it's been resold down here, just like the guy that bought 4.5k worth of Vodka in Asda two weeks back.

DonJose

MacBuster wrote: »

I live in Dundalk and shop regularly in the North but the situation is crazy now as the cheaper prices are attracting every bit of scum from Ireland and blocking the motorway...Currently there are 15KM tailbacks from south to north.

LOL, I can understand people from Newry getting pissed off with all the extra traffic blocking up their streets, but for somebody from the south to be bitching about this is taking the piss. Thanks for the laugh buddy

thepoolgirl

DonJose wrote: »

LOL, I can understand people from Newry getting pissed off with all the extra traffic blocking up their streets, but for somebody from the south to be bitching about this is taking the piss. Thanks for the laugh buddy

Made me LOL too

Fishtits

Well, we bought into Globalisation when it suited us vis a vis FDI...

Don't give me the "Patriot" bullsh*t.

It works both ways Mr Lenihan, suck it up... :mad:

byhookorbycrook

Ironic how the same govt ,when quizzed about rip-off prices blamed us for not shopping around ,are now guilt tripping people for doing so.

Terrontress

DonJose wrote: »

LOL, I can understand people from Newry getting pissed off with all the extra traffic blocking up their streets, but for somebody from the south to be bitching about this is taking the piss. Thanks for the laugh buddy

Especially when he claims to have been in Sainsbury's yesterday.

bmaxi

What's patriotic about;
Only having 50% of your salary cosidered for income tax when everybody else has 100%.

Claiming overnight allowance from the taxpayer when residing 30 miles from Dail Eireann.

Having the taxpayer subsidise your bar and restaurant and then not even having the decency to pay your bill.

Allowing millions of Euro in unvouched expenses to be claimed from the taxpayer.

Promoting to Ministerial position, someone who was found,
by the courts, to have actively encouraged people to defraud the Irish taxpayer.

Many more, too numerous to mention.

Patriotism means a lot more than paying lip service at Bodenstown or the G.P.O. The phrase "patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel" never rang truer than in Ireland 2008, our leaders seem to believe it only applies to the working classes.

boopolo

These guys in government may me laugh.

Between buying online (uk), and going to Belfast I have spent about €2,000 in the past few weeks.

If I had instead bought it down south here and paid €3,000, would that make me a patriot or an idiot?

I for one, am not going to pay a thousand euro for the privilege of calling myself a patriot (some politicians definitions of patriot). Especially when most of the extra money does not go on tax, but to the shareholders of tesco, peats, currys etc.

Boo

Brian Capture

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Let's not bring the IRA into this and drag it off topic