February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Delaney’s call is, however, based on more than just a touch of national pride. It is national necessity, he said, that people make decisions on buying goods while taking into account Irish merchants.
The renewed importance of this policy was first highlighted last year when a task force appointed by the Irish government gave Ireland a glowing report card but in its recommendations for the future, said that only homegrown industry had durability in the long term.
And the sudden disparity of the euro and the dollar has highlighted this as never before. A euro valued at $1.40 or even $1.45 is now likely, Irish analysts warned this weekend, and a German newspaper has predicted that the U.S. government might reluctantly step into the market if the European single currency were to surge above $1.45.
It may not happen — but already the currency difference makes U.S. goods so cheap that shoppers from Europe are shrugging off the trans-Atlantic seven-hour flights like uncomfortable bus trips to the mall.
Said one British shopper in Soho last week: “If you catch the early flight, you are in the shops by lunchtime.”
Meanwhile, in the UK, there are predictions of a quiet, gloomy Christmas shopping season on the High Street, adding another contrast to Delaney’s remarks.
He called on businesses to offer the widest possible range of goods at competitive prices to the Irish consumer. “For this to happen it will require exceptional levels of service delivery and value for money from businesses and also a recognition from consumers that when they buy Irish goods they maintain employment levels within the domestic economy,” he said.
And, he added, if every adult spent about