Sir, - I pose a question to your readers. Am I the only person in the country who is appalled at the British consumer colonialism which appears to be occurring at the moment in Ireland?
On the one hand, we have one part of the island struggling to separate from England. On the other, we in the Republic seem to be turning into another English county. Almost every week we hear about more British companies entering the Irish market. We appear to welcome these companies with open chequebooks. Do we care about the Irish family business any more or about our own culture?
Surely this guy is over-reacting, you may say to yourself. Am I? Fifteen or 20 years ago England was full of interesting, individual towns and villages. Today, many of them are nothing more than a hub in the chainstore machine.
You may argue that inviting these chainstores into Ireland is development, but at what cost? British usually means bigger but it doesn't necessarily mean better. We, in Ireland, should innovate, not imitate. We have followed the British model of development in the past: the example of high-rise flats for the socially excluded comes to mind.
I, for one, do not wish to walk up the main streets of Ireland and feel I'm walking up the high streets of Britain. I don't want to be given the same company lingo in every chain store in the country. Basically, I don't wish to live in Eireshire! I would be interested to hear how other readers feel about the situation. - Yours, etc., Padraig Lewis,
Portlaoise,
Co Laois.