Are prices in Ireland too high, or is it simply a case of shopping around, asks CONOR POPE
- An Italian by the name of Cristiano Bernacca contacted us through the Pricewatch blog with some strong opinions about living and holidaying in Ireland.
He has recently moved from Ireland to Barcelona and says that in his new home “there’s an Irish pub in the square next to my place where a pint of Guinness is €2”.
When he was living in Ireland, his family and friends frequently asked him to bring home Irish drinks, such as Baileys and Jameson whiskey.
“The price of a bottle of Baileys in Tesco is €19; the same bottles in any Italian supermarket are €9,” he fumes. “How is that possible? And please don’t blame Government taxes.”
Every morning he treats himself to a croissant and coffee costing €2, compared with the €2.25 “a terribly watery coffee” used to cost him in Cork. “Ireland went too greedy in recent years. I can’t understand how people can be charged €18 for a pizza, which is made with water, flour and salt, plus whatever topping you want to add.
“The cost of making a single pizza dough with toppings doesn’t exceed €2, the rest is just speculation. I can get a massive ice cream in Italy for €2, how come I have to pay €3.50 for an ice cream in Dingle?”
Bernacca goes on to moan about the quality of Irish food, weather, roads, public transport, restaurants and pretty much everything else that you could possibly think of.
- Other posters were having none of it. Dealga pointed out that there was nothing we could do about the weather and said she had never paid €18 for pizza “or anything like it for one in my life”. She went on to say that “if you go to the wrong place you’re going to get ripped off in every country”, and cites the example of Paris, where she was recently.
In Montmarte she got charged €8.50 for a petit dejeuner of coffee, orange juice, toasted baguette and jam. “You’d get a fry and tea here for that. A couple of streets over, the same was €6.50. If you go to Rome, how far do you have to walk from any of its tourist traps before you don’t shell out a tenner for a microwaved lasagne? Research/patience/dumb luck – it’s the same everywhere.”
- Lil says that while she understands “the anger at being ripped off, there are a lot of places that are now offering value for money”. She is perplexed when people who think what they are being asked to pay is too much, simply pay and grumble.
“Why not seek an alternative right at the start, such as going to a different coffee shop where the price of a coffee is more reasonable? Many people who go on holiday do research into prices and look for places with good prices to stay and to eat. Why not do the same while in Ireland? It really isn’t that much more work.”
- Ray McErlean agrees with Bernacca. He is from Northern Ireland and has lived in England for 38 years. “I used to love to go back to Ireland but have not done so for some time”. The reason is, “it’s just too expensive. I have had English neighbours saying that Ireland was the most expensive place they have ever visited.”
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