Buying Irish-made Christmas presents will save jobs

GODFREY’S GOSPEL
According to Michael Godfrey
THIS day week it will all be over again for another year.

Yes, we will have survived the annual Christmas fest, some in a better financial state than others. Mind you, when we think back to the madness of a few years ago, it looks as though we have all learned a valuable lesson. In recent years, it wasn’t the thought that counted when it came to giving a gift; rather, the cost was more important.

With the credit crunch, followed by the worst recession in living memory, we all finally got into cash-saving mode, finding out where the best value was and who had the best special offers. Not a bad thing.

Over the past few weeks, it has been obvious for all to see that retailers, who have gone through a torrid time of late, were doing everything in their power to boost trade – something vitally needed if their businesses are to survive in the months to come. But will it be enough?

I hate to put a damper on things – even as people break open the piggy bank to go shopping in the final run-up to Christmas – but the reality is that half of all businesses are in survival mode at present, even with all the special offers, and many are putting a finger into the proverbial dam to survive a few days longer so they can give some cheer to their workers.

I was in Kilkenny the other day where I met a young Carlow man working in a local hotel. Nothing unusual there. However, a few weeks ago, I happened to meet the same young man. But this time he was working in the same line of business in Carlow. Asked why he had moved, he told me that he had no choice in the matter as he and seven of his colleagues had been made redundant within the past few weeks.

He was able to get another job close to home, but many more will not be so lucky. Eventually, they will be forced to look for work abroad.

Two weeks ago, I met another man, slightly older, married with a young daughter, who was contemplating whether he should stay in Ireland after Christmas or head abroad. Deep down, he knows the logical thing to do is to go abroad in search of work so that he can send money home to his wife and baby daughter to pay the bills. But he is reluctant, because he also knows that, one day, he will come home and his daughter will not recognise him. As any parent will tell you, a few months in the life of a young child is an awful long time – just ask returning army personnel from UN peacekeeping duty.

Last-minute shopping is always a time when we spend much more than we had originally planned. Desperation leads to rash decision-making. We all say we will never do it again, but each year, we all fall into the same trap. We simply forget about people we ‘must’ give a present to and head out to buy one as quickly as possible.

And as we rush out on Christmas Eve, we should just step back for a minute and give a little thought to what we are buying to make sure it is Irish-produced. We may just be helping to save a very valuable job for someone in the near future.

The first week of January will not be long in coming. Wouldn’t it be great to think that because of our actions over the coming days, we may be responsible for someone not having to catch a flight out of this country come the New Year?