Comedian Des Bishop argued on the Late Late show a few weeks ago that he had never seen a country who was happier to be in recession. He claimed that we were happier to be poor and right ('I told you it would end but you wouldn't listen would you!) than happy and rich. We laughed at that suggestion. But he's dead right really. We love to play ourselves down. The Celtic Tiger made us get above ourselves really.
Now there's this argument about patriotism and how apparently according to Brian Cowen shopping in the North is unpatriotic. He said 'when you shop in Northern Ireland, you’re paying Her Majesty’s taxes, you’re not paying taxes to the state that you live in'. Hmmm. I posted on this topic a few days ago and concluded 'that shopping over the Border hurts the Irish economy. €300 spent in Sainsburys in Newry is stimulating the UK economy and generates VAT for the British Exchequer. Meanwhile Revenue has lost the VAT from your €300 shop that it would have gotten if you had shopped in Superquinn. Loss in VAT returns significantly hurts the Irish economy. The effect on society is less money to fund schools and hospitals'. And my thoughts on this so far haven't changed.
But now politicians in the North are getting involved in this debate too, arguing that Northern motorists went across the Border to the South for years to buy cheaper petrol giving taxes to Revenue. Stormont junior minister Jeffrey Donaldson has been urging Southern shoppers to bring their Euro across the Border in order to get a good deal. But more importantly it has to be said that he is looking after NI's self interest and hoping to bolster the NI economy.
Added to this unpatriotic nonsense that's been floating about, is Donaldson's comment that Irish government ministers support a united Ireland (do they?) but don't support the Irish shopping in the North. Whilst I like the brashness of this argument, I fail to see the connection. Surely regardless of politics, loss of VAT to the Irish Revenue Commissioners is a major problem to our government, and thus to us.
But it's interesting to listen to this debate rumble on nonetheless.
(photo from Guardian.co.uk)
Now there's this argument about patriotism and how apparently according to Brian Cowen shopping in the North is unpatriotic. He said 'when you shop in Northern Ireland, you’re paying Her Majesty’s taxes, you’re not paying taxes to the state that you live in'. Hmmm. I posted on this topic a few days ago and concluded 'that shopping over the Border hurts the Irish economy. €300 spent in Sainsburys in Newry is stimulating the UK economy and generates VAT for the British Exchequer. Meanwhile Revenue has lost the VAT from your €300 shop that it would have gotten if you had shopped in Superquinn. Loss in VAT returns significantly hurts the Irish economy. The effect on society is less money to fund schools and hospitals'. And my thoughts on this so far haven't changed.
But now politicians in the North are getting involved in this debate too, arguing that Northern motorists went across the Border to the South for years to buy cheaper petrol giving taxes to Revenue. Stormont junior minister Jeffrey Donaldson has been urging Southern shoppers to bring their Euro across the Border in order to get a good deal. But more importantly it has to be said that he is looking after NI's self interest and hoping to bolster the NI economy.
Added to this unpatriotic nonsense that's been floating about, is Donaldson's comment that Irish government ministers support a united Ireland (do they?) but don't support the Irish shopping in the North. Whilst I like the brashness of this argument, I fail to see the connection. Surely regardless of politics, loss of VAT to the Irish Revenue Commissioners is a major problem to our government, and thus to us.
But it's interesting to listen to this debate rumble on nonetheless.
(photo from Guardian.co.uk)
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