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Water pricesI recently paid €2.60 for a cup of stale coffee from a flask in the National Concert Hall and thought that was a bit steep considering the quality until I was asked for €3 for a 250ml bottle of still water.

At €12 a litre, this has to be the most expensive water in the country. Protestation to the server yielded no more than "this is a management issue" and a promise it will be relayed to his manager. In the meantime I will be bringing my own water there in future. - Francis Sheeran

Dual prices

I personally find dual pricing incredibly odd and annoying, not from the point of view of exchange rates, just the annoyance of having goods priced in a foreign currency. Sixty-five million people use sterling while 302 million use euro. I personally boycott all shops that dual price. - Liam Dunne

Beer strengths

The Guinness brewed in Nigeria is about 7 per cent alcohol (if I recall aright), about half as strong again as what they brew here. Breweries justify such changes as adapting the product to suit the local market - in this case the drinking culture. Some countries don't swill the stuff by the gallon like we do, so prefer a stronger beer. If we got our hands on such stuff, we'd all end up comatose. Well, that's the argument! Y'see, they aren't ripping us off, they're saving us from ourselves! (Though if that's so, why don't they stop brewing altogether, one might ask?) The reality is they're selling a brand, not a beer. If they thought it would sell in Saudi Arabia at zero per cent alcohol, they'd brew some. If they thought they'd sell more to women if they'd dyed it pink, they would. - Duncan Martin

Reading matters

Another "reading matter" is the Irish Timesitself. It costs €1.70 here and 80p in Northern Ireland. At an average exchange rate it should be priced around €1.15. Is VAT the problem? Why is there such a big difference? - Bernice O'Connor