Sir, - The Celtic Tiger is in good voice right now, and on the back of the current wave of prosperity we have seen a plethora of foreign retailers taking over our high street stores. A number of fundamental economic questions occur, which I would like the opportunity of sharing with your readers.
1. Do these firms, in taking over existing stores, create jobs, or do they simply create profits which are promptly exported to line the pockets of foreign shareholders?
2. At the first sign of a downturn in the economy, will these firms go galloping off to the nearest ferry-port, leaving their loyal staff to the delights of the dole queue?
3. Is it true that on the shelves of these stores, imported goods are being substituted for the Irish-made products previously sold when the stores were in Irish hands? On this point, I have offered Boots and Tesco in Cork the opportunity to comment, by stating the proportion of Irish-sourced products now sold, compared with the percentage at time of take-over. My letters were ignored. My follow-up letters were also ignored. "The silence," as the poet said, "is eloquence itself!"
Surely it is clear that the best way to protect Irish jobs is to buy Irish-made products - and is it not just plain daft to see Irish consumers buying basic foodstuffs grown abroad when our own farmers are producing world-class food?
Personally, I propose to buy Irish branded goods whenever possible as a matter of deliberate choice. I have no intention of importing unemployment into this country! - Yours, etc.
Seamus D. O'Hea South Terrace, Cork.