Dominick Donnelly

23^rd February 2009

How we spend our money can have a positive effect

Commenting on the recent turmoil in our economic situation, Green Party candidate for Cork County Council and Passage West Town Council in the local elections, Cllr. Dominick Donnelly said:  “With all the doom and gloom around about the economy, it is hard for us to see what effect we can all have on the economy.  However we can all have a positive effect by spending our money wisely.  The biggest weekly expenditure most of us have is on groceries.  What food we buy and where we buy it can have a huge effect.  We should be buying Irish made food in Irish owned shops who pay their taxes to the Irish Government.”

Cllr. Donnelly continued:  “I illustrate what I mean with two simple examples.  Ten or fifteen years ago there was one main Irish brand of crisps, with a few smaller competitors.  Then a large company from outside Ireland came into the Irish market with huge celebrity endorsed marketing campaigns, and took a significant share of the Irish crisp market.  The result of this was that at least one Irish crisp factory closed, and the number employed in the Irish crisp industry reduced significantly.  If we had continued buying the Irish made crisps, this would not have happened.  We eat a lot of crisps, but we should make sure they are Irish crisps.  Another example of buying non-Irish product is yoghurts.  In any supermarket or grocery shop, there are huge numbers of different brands of yoghurt on the shelves.  Most of these are Irish, but many are not.  The only reason people buy the non-Irish brands is a matter of lifestyle choice.  Is this a good enough reason not to be supporting the Irish dairy industry, and supporting jobs in the Irish dairy industry?  The same arguments can be applied across most product ranges sold in grocery shops and supermarkets.”

“We can all make a difference and create jobs and wealth in the Irish economy by thinking a bit more carefully about what products we buy with our hard earned money, and also in what shops we buy them.  We should be buying Irish made goods as locally as possible, in Irish owned shops, and we should stop our hard earned money flowing out of the Irish economy, as much as we possibly can.  If we all do this, it will make a huge difference.” Cllr. Donnelly concluded.