Anti Northern Shopping Bias in RTE?

DublinWriter

Is it just me and my tinfoil-hat, or has anyone noticed an increase in the amount of negative coverage toward shopping in the North being put out in RTE Radio 1 in the past week?

It seems like every programme from Liveline to Drivetime are pushing some negative aspect of shopping up North.

humberklog

Could be your tin-foil hat. I've been informed via rte radio on when the best time to go and where to avoid traffic (and tolls), what the real bargains are when it comes to electrical and grocery goods are and where's best to procure these bargains. I haven't come across one jot of negativety at the shoppers by rte. I have come across dismay at people willing to queue in traffic for so long only to gain small change differences. The same dismay I show.

So I'd say definately not. In fact they've been very helpful to this consumer. Job well done on informing lost shoppers RTE.

GSF

Interesting listening to Q102 and U105 on Saturday morning. Ray Shah on Q102 seems to have something against Northerns, but U105 seemed to think it was a great thing to see so many shoppers heading north.

BrianD

GSF wrote: »

Interesting listening to Q102 and U105 on Saturday morning. Ray Shah on Q102 seems to have something against Northerns, but U105 seemed to think it was a great thing to see so many shoppers heading north.

Which is interesting given that both U105 and Q102 are owned by the Belfast based UTV.

It is ironic that we put up with high prices for so long and then think we'e smart to drive to Newry for a saving that amounts to small change when you factor in time and travel. We're not really good at this driving a bargain lark!!

Firetrap

Is it really only last year since they couldn't keep enough planes in the sky heading to New York?

FlutterinBantam

GSF wrote: »

Interesting listening to Q102 and U105 on Saturday morning. Ray Shah on Q102 seems to have something against Northerns, but U105 seemed to think it was a great thing to see so many shoppers heading north.

Ray Shah!!!

savaged by a dead sheep comes to mind;)

TRSJ

Dublinwriter,

Maybe RTE are right and there are some negative aspects to shopping up north like em......job loss potential down here. If the shops here don't make money then they let staff go or even close - it's not rocket science. Then we all suffer. I agree with shopping around and there has been some serious rip offs here but for the amount of people I hear who don't give a F*** about our economy and the jobs of their neighbours and family bewilders me. BTW none of my family own a shop and I am not involved in retail so I am not biased for that reason but I am going to spend every penny in our economy this year. I will shop around and ignore the rip off merhcants.

Rant over.

TRSJ

keefg

I can't say I've heard too much negativity on the radio regarding shopping in the north but I have heard loads of stations trying to pursuade people to shop locally.

And I am not just talking about the ads, I mean the presenters as well. Some shows on KFM recently have been entirely dedicated to promoting local shops (without "bad mouthing" shopping in the north)

mike65

Its not your tin foil hat causing interference, I noticed this last week and mentioned it on the Patriotism Shopping thread in Politics.

DMC

LMFM is at coal face of this argument.

Time and time again, local councillors, chambers of commerce, publicans etc are on the station asking people to shop local. And yet, LMFM (UTV owned too) takes ads from Sainsburys, The Outlet in Banbridge and some shopping centres in Craigavon and Lisburn.

That irony has been noted on the Michael Reade morning programme.

Incidentally, I do not blame one person from spending a few quid in the North. Money is tight, and people are trying to make their cash go further, and I suppose some are using it as two fingers to the Government and the local retailers for having high prices; if it makes them show the errors of their ways, so be it. Maybe that is going off topic for this thread.

MarkN

BrianD wrote: »

It is ironic that we put up with high prices for so long and then think we'e smart to drive to Newry for a saving that amounts to small change when you factor in time and travel. We're not really good at this driving a bargain lark!!

Unless you're driving a 6mpg Hummer, I don't get this fuel argument.

DublinWriter

BrianD wrote: »

It is ironic that we put up with high prices for so long and then think we'e smart to drive to Newry for a saving that amounts to small change when you factor in time and travel. We're not really good at this driving a bargain lark!!

I disagree. For example, it costs me about €15 in diesel for the monthly run.

One of the many items I'd buy would be 2 litre bottles of diet Coke.

I'd normally bulk buy about 20 bottles, so that's the trip paid for for starters considering it's £1 a bottle in Dunnes Newry vs. €2 a bottle in my local Tesco.

Same with dog food - pack of 12 Pedigree Senior pouches cost about €9 down here. They are £5.50 in Sainsburys.

Again, Philly cream cheese - about £1 for 200g up there, around €2 down here in Tescos.

You really need to plan what you want in advance, know how much it costs down here and bulk buy it if possible.

The general rule I follow is to buy everything up North bar short-term perishable food items as the savings with those don't seem to be to great.

GSF

DMC wrote: »

LMFM is at coal face of this argument.

Time and time again, local councillors, chambers of commerce, publicans etc are on the station asking people to shop local. And yet, LMFM (UTV owned too) takes ads from Sainsburys, The Outlet in Banbridge and some shopping centres in Craigavon and Lisburn.

That irony has been noted on the Michael Reade morning programme.

Seems to me that everybody was quite happy when things were going the other way & petrol stations south of the border put northern ones out of business.

tSubh Dearg

Can we keep the discussion to coverage of the topic on the radio as opposed to actual savings made, that's more for Bargin Alerts or the Consumer Issues forum.

Our man in Havana

GSF wrote: »

Seems to me that everybody was quite happy when things were going the other way & petrol stations south of the border put northern ones out of business.

Exactly. They don't like it when the boot is on the other foot!

ronbyrne2005

Noticed this myself, they gave a blantantly selective piece written in Farmers journal a lot of coverage. The guy writting the piece had excluded alcohol and just covered perishable stuff which for whatever reason aint much cheaper(if any) up there. People in my experience don't go up for bread and fruit and veg , it's for large ticket items, clothes and non perishable goods which can be bought in bulk and stockpiled in house/shed. Matt Cooper's show covered the item a lot better than drivetime(Hate Mary Wilson anyway)

fricatus

ronbyrne2005 wrote: »

Noticed this myself, they gave a blantantly selective piece written in Farmers journal a lot of coverage. The guy writting the piece had excluded alcohol and just covered perishable stuff which for whatever reason aint much cheaper(if any) up there. People in my experience don't go up for bread and fruit and veg , it's for large ticket items, clothes and non perishable goods which can be bought in bulk and stockpiled in house/shed. Matt Cooper's show covered the item a lot better than drivetime(Hate Mary Wilson anyway)

Yeah... that guy from the Farmers' Journal... he went up North to buy cheese and tomatoes, let's see, maybe some beetroot and ham... oh yeah, and tea! Worse again, he bought the budget brands, because people who go North are looking to save money, ya know. He bought around £16 worth of groceries up there - what sort of idiot drives from Dublin to the North for £16 worth of groceries?

Of course he wasn't an idiot - he knew exactly what he was doing. That piece was totally agenda driven. His first comment was about how he paid the toll at Drogheda: "so there's my savings out the window already!"

RTE shouldn't have given him the time of day. I'd like to see them do a comparison where they buy 10 bottles of wine, 48 cans of beer, a rake of chocolate and soft drinks, and then a load of christmas presents like shoes, iPods, CDs and so on. You'd see some savings then.

ronbyrne2005

fricatus wrote: »

Yeah... that guy from the Farmers' Journal... he went up North to buy cheese and tomatoes, let's see, maybe some beetroot and ham... oh yeah, and tea! Worse again, he bought the budget brands, because people who go North are looking to save money, ya know. He bought around £16 worth of groceries up there - what sort of idiot drives from Dublin to the North for £16 worth of groceries?

Of course he wasn't an idiot - he knew exactly what he was doing. That piece was totally agenda driven. His first comment was about how he paid the toll at Drogheda: "so there's my savings out the window already!"

RTE shouldn't have given him the time of day. I'd like to see them do a comparison where they buy 10 bottles of wine, 48 cans of beer, a rake of chocolate and soft drinks, and then a load of christmas presents like shoes, iPods, CDs and so on. You'd see some savings then.

Do they have Blaa in Northern Ireland?

fricatus

ronbyrne2005 wrote: »

Do they have Blaa in Northern Ireland?

Nah... Clonmel is about as far north as you'd find a blaa.

Maybe I should buy a rake of them at the weekend and sell them at Jonesboro market...

mike65

*shakes head at thought of a Blaa north of the Suir*

DMC

ronbyrne2005 wrote: »

Do they have Blaa in Northern Ireland?

Soda farls and potato bread is the local delicacy in an Ulster fry, easily the tastiest breakfast fry-up anywhere.