Spend for Ireland
Grafton Street looked lovely yesterday (Tuesday) with the glittering Christmas lights, the buskers, and Brown Thomas wonderful fairytale window displays.
And - yes people were spending in the Westbury, in Marks and Spencer, BT and other places. It seemed to me that there is still money in our little country, despite having to hand over most of what we earn to the Government and the Trioka.
Then I began to wonder just how much of spending this Christmas will be with money borrowed from credit card companies, Credit Unions or even moeyl enders. Are we in fact being goaded by the Government to spend money that we do not have just to keep the tills ringing in a retail sector that is mostky foreign-owned ?
Much as we would all like to see a bumper Christmas in restaurants, hotels and shops, it would be really dangerous if it involved us going back to the Bad Old Days of the Celtic Tiger when 'maxing the credit card' became a way of life
Maybe we should opt for a simpler Christmas in 2011 and spend only what we have.