I’m still amazed that they think increasing the VAT is going to help this economy.
This is all going to end in tears. But seriously, we need to start making a stand and stop sitting on our arses while this happens.

The late Brian Lenihan increased the VAT rate by 0.5% and admitted after that it was a massive mistake due to revenue lost to people traveling across the border to shop and reversed the increase. Now this shower of incompetent muppets have decided that increasing the rate by 2% will be good for revenue!!

I live 280kms from the border so I won’t be crossing although Internet shopping will increase.

It’s appalling!! Surely the government want to encourage the nation to purchase goods within Ireland! They’re better of cutting VAT like they did with tourism etc earlier in year!

This Government is doing a great job, NOT!!! What a shower of liars. Job Creation my ARSE

Maybe the protests should be outside of some of the supermarkets – I read an article in the Indo that some of the supermarkets are still charging us 30% more than in the UK only 10% of which can be accounted for by the increased cost of doing business here. If we could pare down that 20% it’d be something.

It would make more sense cutting VAT and encourage competiton to get people from the north to shop in the south. Why should things be cheaper across the line? It’s the same island, it’s all brought in so something has to be wrong.

The retail sector is already on its knees, for the past 2 years the government have done nothing to help. now they want to kill it even further. these gobshites are killing local business all to keep Europe happy. they don’t have the balls to stand up to Europe and tell them they have other commitments, like to the Irish people.

Seems to be a view here that 21% VAT applies largely to white goods – remember that car tyres, batteries and all across-the-counter car parts have 21% VAT added. This is the business I work in and I can tell you this increase will have a huge impact on consumers.

It is pathetic that our politicians are being patted on the head by the Troika while at the same time they are kicking us in the arse. We now know who our politicians serve and it is not the Irish people. Are we destined to be one of the poorer suburbs of Berlin?

I’ve always tried to buy Irish and locally even before and through the boom years but when my own government does something like this it just feels like they’re taking the piss. I get the impression that it doesn’t matter who’s in government here, FF, FG, Labour, SF, or any of them because they’re getting their orders from Germany. Like many people I don’t have a car so can’t easily travel North, I suspect we’ll see regular weekly buses soon. Regardless of what exact products get hit by this VAT increase it will have a knock on affect on everything we buy, thinking it’ll only hit specific products and won’t affect others is a little naive, all products, including foods, involve workers, have to be transported and fuel costs will go up, as will packaging and countless things we can’t imagine. I had to buy a medical device recently, I would’ve preferred to buy it locally so priced it in my local pharmacy where it cost €200, I was able to buy the same product online for €100. Most people are going to do the same thing for one off or large itemsand so the exchequer will loose out, rather than taking a modest, reasonable tax this government are trying to tax us out of existance. Those who can will go North, if I can I will, I don’t drink so I’m not going there for that, anything else I need I’ll try to get online. Austerity is’nt working, taxing us to this level isn’t working, all it does is send us to our nearest neighbour, in this case Northern Ireland or the internet.

I already do the shopping for my family in Co. Tyrone since I have to make that journey to see the other half ever weekend. The products themselves are remarkably cheaper. Thats all fine and dandy for me, but for anyone who has no other reason to make the journey, I’d imagine the average 40 euro I spend on fuel is not far off equal to the savings been made from crossing the border in the first place.

It’s a pity that it makes so much more sense to cross if you live within a commutable distance , as our local businesses need every cent they can get. Dundalk and Drogheda (where I’m from) will unfortunately I sense, go from bad to terrible. It’s really about looking out for number one at this stage in my opinion. I graduated with my second degree this morning and don’t get any social welfare whatsoever. Sad to say it but it’s the things like this that are sending me packing to Canada in a few months.

Who’s left who has anything to spend. Most of us are on our knees and wondering how to G-d we will get through the winter without freezing. to death, if it’s a cold one as forecast. When people have to start counting the pennies twice and balance eating with being warm enough to function, how much worse does it get?
I say **** the banks and the money men. What’s important is to care for our elderly, our vulnerable, our kids and our communities first. Let them have the (meagre) crumbs from OUR tables for a change.

Why can’t we have a menstruating female as minister for finance? Then maybe the highest rate of VAT will be REMOVED completely from “feminine hygiene products”" These most essential of items for 50% of the adult population!

Raising VAT across the board is scandalous. Apart from the fact that VAT is an unfair tax anyway. There might be some justification for an increase on non-essential goods or luxury items, but it has been shown that , economically, VAT is a regressive tax which will lead to loss of jobs and undue hardship (more of) to low-income citizens.
Unless it intended to be punitive and repressive taxation can only be fair if the ability to pay is taken into account. This **** government are taking us back to the times of the Romans in terms of taxation. It’s enough to piss-off a saint! And we can’t even sell up and bugger off somewhere else, because our homes are devalued and nobody would buy them anyway as the property market’s fecked too. So, not only are we all in the shite, it’s getting deeper too.

I think we are getting much better value shopping local now, personally I know my local butchers & vegetable shop do great savings deals & I would prefer fresh food anyday for my kids & I so I won’t be going north! Plus the VAT has been raised in the north too so not huge savings to be made!

Won’t be able to afford to go there lol

I think its only now beginning to dawn on the Irish people that the budget cuts and tax increases have nothing to do with rebuilding our shattered economy, but rather with saving the European banks who helped create the problem. Even if this means destroying the lives of Irish citizens for decades to come. There is no doubt that the road we are on will lead to the destruction of what is left of our economy. The awful truth is that our political leaders from all parties are utterly bankrupt of any ideas on how to save us , and see their role as the implementers of our European masters will. “Non posse dare quod non habeo”

Shopping in the north is pointless for me. Cost of petrol, time, traveling, queuing is more expensive in the end that those couple quid saved there. I will really need to do huge shopping to make it worth and I am not. But I think many people will go there before Christmas and worst affected will be of course border counties where people have close distance to the N.I.

I won’t be going North but only because I don’t have a car!

Its ebay time

In fairness I buy some much online it won’t make a bit of difference to my habits. Only things I buy in Ireland is my weekly grocery shop.

Some things I’ll definitely be asking the MIL to pick up for us as she travels north regularly. If up there for another reason I’d always fit in a trip to Asda but not sure it’d be worth a weekly drive!

Nose and Face!!!!

While I’m tired too of all the increases in whatever, the point is that if it is not an increase in VAT, the gangsters in government and EU, will get the money through other means. Fact is: they WILL get it and take and they WILL take it.

Dundalk has already been boned, it, like my home town of Youghal, is in a quiet state of stagnation. In Dundalk’s case it’s even worse, with the Crowne White Elephant looking down on the decline of a once booming town.

I was enthused when the gov.ie cut VAT as part of their jobs initiative, but this is a step backwards. Actually, it’s not a step but a full on backstepping retreat, with the bayonets of the troika pressed to their chests.

The VAT increase will increase the price of ?1000 worth of goods by ?20. If this makes people go up north to shop, they must be spending some amount of cash to cover the petrol costs. I presume these people complaining would prefer a reduction in the income of people who could only dream if spending ?1000 on non-food goods.

The Govt got elected on a commitment not to increase income tax. Since €1 billion needs to be raised in tax, the only option is to increase indirect taxation. Unfortunately that hits those on low income, such as pensioners, the most.

living 20 mins from boarder I probably will, although with the terrible roads up here and crossing the boarder maybe its a government ploy to keep us stuck in donegal

well i live in dingle, so im fairly sure 2% increase in the VAT rate would still be less than me driving up north to do the shopping :(

i am certainly returning to shopping up north.we used to anyway. i get sod all entitlements.one wage has kept my family going the last 2 years.and muppet enda wants to take more of it.and give my family nothing in return.this government is getting nothing from me if i can help it. it sickens me to see inept usless muppets,take early retirement .living on 2000 a week for the rest of their lives.and have the gall to public say they earned it. to think of the money mary harney spent on make up,hair doos,travel and food,at the tax payers expence.thank heavens she never got liposuction.i dread to think of the total bill for that job.

Its not good for the retail sector especially the Licensed Trade which i am involved with on a daily basis.In logical terms we will be spending 2 euro extra in every 100 euro we spend. Or 2 cents in every euro we spend,which is a worse sounding scenario if you believe all you read in the papers. However its a time to be very prudent with the way we spend our money,to travel across the border and shop has a cost to it also. If I travel to Belfast I have to put an extra €10 petrol in the car and another €15 on lunch, when you compare the prices in supermarkets here and up north and convert the exchange rate there is no difference, and that applies to electrical goods also. Dont be mislead by these increases by the goverment. Its not the retailers or publicans that requested this increase its our so called friends in Brussels. So don’t create more misery by causing more unemployment its time to tough it out and shop local.

Never shopped in the north before.. But may have to now. Only 45 mins, give or take, from Newry.. Don’t want to shop there, but am being left with little alternative.

No, I will probably make use of the internet more though.
Purchasing items via websites (businesses) beyond our own borders.
Its not a choice I want to make – but one I HAVE to make in order to survive economically..

I want to help keep all the Irish boys and girls in their jobs so no i wont be travelling north to pump money into the British economy. For christ sake its 2%!! work it out for every €1000 you spend and see is it worth turning your back on our own. Its an idiotic move by FG and as much as it pains me i wont turn my back on my own and support a foreign economy in protest. BUY IRISH all the way.

Can somebody please explain to me, unless you live very very close to the border, how the hell is it worth the effort, what with petrol, maybe a coffee/lunch somewhere along the way, surely that negates the whole exercise!!!!!

This VAT increase will be coming on board just about the time when the traditional January sales will be on and that is usually the time of year when people buy White goods and other expensive goods which are subject to VAT. I live about forty miles from the border and while I would love to be more patriotic and only buy Irish in Ireland, I believe that as long as the people in this country keep paying, the Government will keep piling it on so for that reason, I will have no guilt about doing my shopping in Enniskillen.

To Keep your town in business keep your business in your town”.Think of anyone u know who works in retail. there is gonna be allot out of a job next year big time and these plonkers in FG know this..

The government have pulled the wool over everybody’s eyes. They’ve not done much for much needed public service reform savings that are needed now. How the media has let them off with their creative accounting is remarkable. If there are 300k public servants and the max term in public service is 40 years. It means that over 7000 people retire each year. That’s 28,000 jobs retiring , not being reformed. These people are entitled to state pensions of up to half their salary,. So how much are we really saving?

Also if vat receipts are down next year, which they more then likely will be, the returns will be down. Simple creative accounting. One thing I will give this government is that they are all about the optics.

Shopping up north simply to get more stuff for less is not helping the fat problem we have and the children are so fat from eating rubbish that the parents should be jailed for abuse. It is less that people should be eating and consuming. It is gluttony and the Irish are getting fatter and their kids are never going to loose the weight. So shop local and buy smaller quantities – that will save you money , be good for your health and save jobs for your children or somebody’s child.

Why has the Irish media been so slow to report the VAT increase. The 23% rate was announced on Nov 4th and published in the Irish Times on Nov 5th.

From Nov 5th IT: “Mr Noonan said that, as part of the EU-IMF agreement, the top rate of VAT was to rise to 23 per cent”

The media was just lazy on this and preferred to jump on the Germany leak!

When many people shopped up north:

– Sterling and the euro were at near parity;
– Irish shops (and foreign chains) were ripping people off royally by applying up to 50% to stg prices;
– Many of us were unaware that Bertie had shares in a Newry shopping centre.

This tax is not going to recreate that environment, so largely only those who are already continuing that practice will travel.

It really amuses me reading the comments on this topic and so many people openly admitting they will or already do shop over the border. Yet from the same people’s previous comments on other topics I would have thought they would be died in the wool republicans or at the least very patriotic. I know things are very difficult for so many people but we are doomed as a nation if we turn our backs on the local businesses in Louth Monaghan, Cavan or donegal who employ our children friends or neighbours. I wouldnt imagine Asda in enniskillen employ very many from Cavan for instance. I still say we should try as far as possible to shop local if we can at all. If you keep an eye on ads in the papers and compare prices in all the shops in your local town there are savings to be made. that’s what we do and believe me we are not loaded. Hubby and myself are both unemployed and on the wrong side of 50 so not much hope of getting any work either. But I still believe in supporting the local businesses. Kenny or noonan won’t give a sh…t if your neighbor who owns a wee shop goes to the wall. You are all only “cutting off your nose to spite your face” by crossing the border. That’s my opinion anyway!

Gentle readers, a small spending statistic remembered from a radio interview at the end of the summer: over €500 million was estimated to have been spent in the Nort’ by Southern shoppers during the first 6 months of this year. WTF will that increase to now? As always, buy local, buy Irish. Even if you live in Glaslough, Monaghan!

I won’t bother. The one time I did go over the border, I found the cost of the petrol cancelled out any savings. Plus I want to help our economy not hinder it.

It’s what our Chancellor would have wanted, to make our local shops (Aldi, lidl) better value than the British stores (M&S, tesco).

The govt are probably gambling that the amount of lost business by border crossing won’t be more significant than the extra duty on fuel bought by consumers in order to get there. The collateral damage to businesses and jobs here doesn’t seem to concern them. Internet commerce growth is, of course, another matter altogether. Recently I had to get a replacement PC, and the cost of getting it online all the way from Germany was a fraction of what I would have paid at Harvey Norman, who are hideously expensive.
(I’ll take meself out the back and shoot me now)

The hysteria over 2% on white goods is amazing! I hope they have the maths right all the same….

Its an extra 2 euro for every 100 euro you spend. I live in Dublin. It would cost me 20 euro to get to there and back. You can do the maths.

We are from Drogheda and my family have been heading up North shopping for a number of years. They tried the whole buy Irish and support local shops but they really couldn’t justify the difference in price. Filling a trolly of food up north in comparison to down south really is much cheaper!! It’s such a pity that families are heading north but this increase will just invite the rest that don’t head north to shop!!

Lets not lose the run of ourselves on this. If retailers pass on the full amount of the increase it will equate to 1.65% on the retail price or 16 and a half cents for every €10 spent on goods at the maximum rate. You would lose a lot more than that on the currency exchange and how much fuel is it worth burning to make the trip.

It is bad news alright, but to hear the retail industry talk, you would think we are facing Armageddon over this.

The poll is flawed. It assumes that respondents are within reasonable commuting distance of the border. NI shopping is not an option for a large proportion of the population, e.g. those who who live in the west and south-west of the country. Those who say they will shop online more should realise that the new VAT rates will still have to be paid on purchases shipped to Ireland.

bring on the black market goods because it is getting harder to afford the legit stuff. they are only going to lower peoples spend and lose out in the long run.

This really shows how idiotic this govt is.Did they support FF raising vat by 0.5%. At least the last clowns reversed it… IDIOTS IDIOTS IDIOTS…

Couldnt be arsed with the driving really.

Commodity traders are very much involved in price hikes of vital goods. Oil, minerals, cereals, sugar you name it. As I look at TheJournal.ie on my Facebook page, there is one of the obnoxious bastards advertising there. I felt angry enough to visit the website and send a protest message:
The address was:- support@Plus500.com
and I left this message:-

It is greedy, unprincipled people like you who are responsible for the mess the world is in today. I hope you all feel good about it as you wallow with your snouts in the trough while the poor struggle to make a living. If you don’t like being told this, then DON’T pollute my space with your stinking advertisements.

It won’t stop them making a fortune, but I felt better having done it. If enough people swamped the emais of these scum firms it would be no bad thing.

As this vat rate increase only applies to white goods, then yes I will be making trips up to the north when the time comes to replace any of those items. I was surprised to hear this rate increase, surely the government wants to encourage spending in the republic!

These poll results make me ashamed , i hope every single person that chooses to go north realises they are not punishing the government, they are not punishing revenue, they are punishing themselves and their neighbours. They are literally taking money out of THEIR OWN ECONOMY, no one else’s.

Sure the previous Government raised it and had to lower it again because of the increase in cross border shopping…mind you newry isnt as cheap as it was before..go to banbridge a few minutes up the road and the difference is unreal in prices!!

hey all,
a neighbour of mine has a son and daughter working in dunnes stores.he and his wife drive to the north to do there shopping.they expect the rest of the people to keep there children in work.the money hemorrhages out of this little country of ours into the north.wake up you stupid twats wake up.

Sod all point heading up North in most cases. Clothing (at least men’s clothes) is a little more expensive. Electronics is the same when you convert currency. Food and groceries are cheaper, but the petrol cost negates any saving. I think people do it more out of protest and to feel they are saving when really they are not. And i dont want it on my conscience that I helped put another person (perhaps my neighbour) out of a job. Sorry, it’s just how I feel!

Most of those who say they would cross the border seem to mention food (reference to Asda etc) but am I right in saying there is no VAT on food anyway so why would you do that? It will make a difference to goods that have the higher VAT rate all right but not enough to make me go north I think. Can’t afford those things anyway, VAT or not.

I am building a house at the moment and will be furnishing it in the new year. With this vat rat increase we will be heading up to buy everything in the north. It’s just crazy. Bet they are rubbing their hands in glee north of the border!

It isn’t just the vat rate,a lot of stores up north are just a lot cheaper to start with eg Debenhams,Dunnes so an extra 2% on top of already cheaper prices,the same goes for shopping online in places like amazon.co.uk.
I think it is the worst choice the government can make to keep jobs and expand the retail sector.

What are the bets that the next government will win elections by promise of cut in VAT!

Twenty-three percent, a pint of blood, and the family’s first born child. They’ll milk the cow till she finally dies, I suppose.

Let’s be real heroes. Lets go North and kill off more jobs in Ireland, put more folks on the dole and give more of our taxes to the Chancellor of the Exchequer in London. And then lets all sit in pubs and criticise everyone else in Ireland for not doing enough to get us out of the mess we are in!!!! Have we any sense at all as a nation?????

Never have never will. Still a crazy idea. Should reduce vat too stimulate sales.
Savings could be made by more aggressive cuts in public sector. I don’t buy the argument about front line being affected. Over the years as front line was being dramatically increased the level of improvement to services was minimal so the effect of cuts too should be minimal.

No north for me. But I will be using the Internet more.

This has little do to with more tax revenue and all to do with competitiveness. Countries like Germany want to to show their competitiveness against Ireland. Forcing a VAT increase does this. Grow some balls Enda and reduce the VAT to 20% and encourage domestic growth and competitiveness of Irish Industry. Also stop grinning like an idiot you looked ridiculous in those photos with Merkel.

People will travel north for cheap drink anyway. Remember extra excise on alcohol and a vat increase will see the price of booze shoot up. Wait for the adverts for cheap beer, wine & spirits to appear in newspapers down here. The savings on drink are hard to resist. Sainsbury’s will be rubbing their hands with glee.

Noonan on RTE last night said the increase will not affect poorer families as much as wealthier ones as poorer families spend most of their income on food and there is no increase on food. The increase is on more expensive items such as white goods, electrical items etc.

To clear up some of the inconsistencies here….the VAT increase will apply to white goods etc and not to food or children’s clothes etc.

Hence, no new savings to be had by doing a weekly shop across the border.

Please don’t all them dodgy drivers and can’t understand a word they say from down there,oh and all them traffic jams