Irish shoppers grasped the euro but we still struggle with metric, writes Rosita Boland
Irish motorists will have to get used to thinking only in kilometres, with the replacement on January 20th of every mileage speed-limit sign in the country with signs in kilometres - all 36,000 of them.
Though metric units were introduced following Ireland's entry to the EU in 1973, the public collectively failed to convert to thinking in kilometres, kilograms and centimetres rather than miles, pounds and inches. Many of us still think in imperial measures, whether it's asking for a pint in the pub or a pound of meat at the deli counter.
Rita Fagan is a spokesperson for WeightWatchers Ireland, which has 60,000 members in the State. She has been working in the company for 27 years. "Even younger people prefer to be weighed in stones," she confirms. "We have weighing machines where the weight comes up in both kilos and stones, but Irish people almost always look at the imperial weight, whereas other Europeans will go for metric every time. They wouldn't have an idea what a pound or a stone was. From my experience, without a shadow of a doubt, Irish people are reluctant to convert to metric. The only way they are ever going to make us is to have only one system. While there are two, we'll always go for the one we know best."
The upcoming generation will know only metric as there is no mention of pounds and ounces on the school curriculum. But many of today's shoppers are the "crossover" generation who learned both at school.
At Dunnes Stores in Dublin's St Stephen's Green Shopping Centre, pre-packed food comes in metric weights. At counters such as the meat and deli areas, and the salad bar, where goods are sold loose, prices are offered in both metric and imperial units. A deli spokesperson confirms most customers ask for their meat to be weighed by the imperial method.
Eamonn Quinn, deputy chairman of Superquinn, says all Superquinn scales are metric only, and have been for some time. There are conversion charts on display to assist shoppers. If a member of the public asks for something in an imperial weight, the assistant will do the conversion to metric.
Colin Bird of the Consumer Association confirms that until December 31st, 2009, supermarket prices can legally be shown in both metric and imperial measures. If there is only one price displayed, however, it must be in metric. This legislation dates from March 2003.
Áine Rafferty is shopping in the Dunnes Stores supermarket on South Great George's Street. "I'd always ask for an item to be weighed in pounds," she says. "I'd be confused to work out what it would be in kilos. I think we always go for what we know, if there is a choice. It's amazing how quickly we adapted to the euro, yet we can't get our heads around metric measurements at all."
Friends Catherine Carter and Noeleen Kearney are looking at prepared chicken dishes in a cold cabinet. Both of them confirm they always think imperial. "It's a habit, really, isn't it?" says Carter. "I wouldn't understand kilos at all," agrees Kearney.
Maurice Byrne is also shopping in Dunnes. He says he never thinks metric. "If I was at the deli counter, I wouldn't ask for something by weight. I'd ask for it by slice. Slices of cheese or rashers. I'd be happy asking for a pound of sausages, but I wouldn't know what a kilo was in weight at all. It's a complete habit we have, I suppose. If there was only one choice, then we'd have to go metric, but until then, we'll keep sticking to what we know."
With the Garda warning this week that there will be no "honeymoon" period for motorists to use confusion over kilometres as an excuse for breaking the speed limit, this might convert motorists to metric a lot quicker than shoppers.