Run-down Rural Towns

[Kevin Doyle]

[quote=Guerilla]

The large supermarkets usually trumpet about the jobs they are going to create.
First of all, construction jobs are very temporary.
Then the retail jobs. They are largely replacing business, not adding to it. Big shops open, small shops close, same number of jobs.

Buncrana has an Aldi and a Lidl within walking distance of the main street, right across the road from each other. Even our own Carndonagh has a large Super Valu.
Moville has escaped the multis so far, but for how long?

They end self employment for many and shut family businesses but at least they create minimum wage jobs.

So are you saying you don't mind local retailers ripping off their customers just as long as they are well paid for it?

If local retailers didn’t charge exorbitant prices I would defend them.

I'm not defending any profiteers whether they are local or international. I am ideologically opposed to speculation- buying a commodity at one price and selling it on for another.

Well then you can't pick and choose who to defend if they all operate within that system.

No but I can oppose even further dominance of big business and corporations in society.[/quote:3crydxm7]


Even if it means that the less well off can be ripped off by the smaller profiteers who want their rip off practices protected from the big guns?

There’s a conflict of interest here. On a wider anti-capitalist platform, you may have a point and it is consistent. But it is also absolutely true that those smaller business, who have temporarily adopted your position (big business dominance etc etc) for their own self interest, in this country rip off their customers and faced with no choice those lesser off face further hardship.

[unaligned]

Donegal is an economic basket case. Even during the so-called Celtic Tiger years, there was never a hint of a boom in the county. Pettigo has to be one of the most depressing towns to pass through. It is completely and utterly dead.

[Stroke]

Small towns have passed into the ownership of big developers, they decide what a local authority can, and cannot do, and who can do business. See below for the threat to Navan UDC's plan to develop a park....

http://www.meathchronicle.ie/articles/1/29041

[Guerilla]

[quote=Kevin Doyle][quote=Guerilla]

The large supermarkets usually trumpet about the jobs they are going to create.
First of all, construction jobs are very temporary.
Then the retail jobs. They are largely replacing business, not adding to it. Big shops open, small shops close, same number of jobs.

Buncrana has an Aldi and a Lidl within walking distance of the main street, right across the road from each other. Even our own Carndonagh has a large Super Valu.
Moville has escaped the multis so far, but for how long?

They end self employment for many and shut family businesses but at least they create minimum wage jobs.

So are you saying you don't mind local retailers ripping off their customers just as long as they are well paid for it?

If local retailers didn’t charge exorbitant prices I would defend them.

I'm not defending any profiteers whether they are local or international. I am ideologically opposed to speculation- buying a commodity at one price and selling it on for another.

Well then you can't pick and choose who to defend if they all operate within that system.

No but I can oppose even further dominance of big business and corporations in society.[/quote:2z13eegz]


Even if it means that the less well off can be ripped off by the smaller profiteers who want their rip off practices protected from the big guns?

There’s a conflict of interest here. On a wider anti-capitalist platform, you may have a point and it is consistent. But it is also absolutely true that those smaller business, who have temporarily adopted your position (big business dominance etc etc) for their own self interest, in this country rip off their customers and faced with no choice those lesser off face further hardship.[/quote:2z13eegz]

I will never support local businesses being forced through financial muscle and economies of scale. What happens to to the former owners and workers of these businesses? Do they just get a new job working minimum wage in Dunnes?

[ergo]

This topic is worth consideration by all interested in the survival/growth of towns. The increasing "tescoification" of Ireland is worrying. Smaller traders cannot compete against the superior purchasing power and the huge promotional and advertising budgets these groups can display.

When local competition is killed off, prices will rise. The headlines in the local papter - Tesco ( or whoever ) coming to town - another 50 jobs are misleading.

From the tourism point of view, the mix of shops adds to the attraction of tourist resorts. People dont travel to see another Tesco, Boots or whatever.

[Kevin Doyle]

[quote=Guerilla][quote=Kevin Doyle][quote=Guerilla]

The large supermarkets usually trumpet about the jobs they are going to create.
First of all, construction jobs are very temporary.
Then the retail jobs. They are largely replacing business, not adding to it. Big shops open, small shops close, same number of jobs.

Buncrana has an Aldi and a Lidl within walking distance of the main street, right across the road from each other. Even our own Carndonagh has a large Super Valu.
Moville has escaped the multis so far, but for how long?

They end self employment for many and shut family businesses but at least they create minimum wage jobs.

So are you saying you don't mind local retailers ripping off their customers just as long as they are well paid for it?

If local retailers didn’t charge exorbitant prices I would defend them.

I'm not defending any profiteers whether they are local or international. I am ideologically opposed to speculation- buying a commodity at one price and selling it on for another.

Well then you can't pick and choose who to defend if they all operate within that system.

No but I can oppose even further dominance of big business and corporations in society.[/quote:1iyoj8yx]


Even if it means that the less well off can be ripped off by the smaller profiteers who want their rip off practices protected from the big guns?

There’s a conflict of interest here. On a wider anti-capitalist platform, you may have a point and it is consistent. But it is also absolutely true that those smaller business, who have temporarily adopted your position (big business dominance etc etc) for their own self interest, in this country rip off their customers and faced with no choice those lesser off face further hardship.[/quote:1iyoj8yx]

I will never support local businesses being forced through financial muscle and economies of scale. What happens to to the former owners and workers of these businesses? Do they just get a new job working minimum wage in Dunnes?[/quote:1iyoj8yx]

Nice way of avoiding the question. If these local businesses are bloody ripping people off in the first place then I have no sympathy for them nor will I support them. What happens to them is irrelevant thereafter, its their own tough sh*t for being rip off merchants in the first place.

If they are forced to reduce their prices then that is a good thing and can only be a good thing for the less well off. I dont care who sells me food as long as I'm not shafted for the courtesy.

[Guerilla]

[quote=Kevin Doyle][quote=Guerilla][quote="Kevin Doyle":d1ficom3][quote=Guerilla]

The large supermarkets usually trumpet about the jobs they are going to create.
First of all, construction jobs are very temporary.
Then the retail jobs. They are largely replacing business, not adding to it. Big shops open, small shops close, same number of jobs.

Buncrana has an Aldi and a Lidl within walking distance of the main street, right across the road from each other. Even our own Carndonagh has a large Super Valu.
Moville has escaped the multis so far, but for how long?

They end self employment for many and shut family businesses but at least they create minimum wage jobs.

So are you saying you don't mind local retailers ripping off their customers just as long as they are well paid for it?

If local retailers didn’t charge exorbitant prices I would defend them.

I'm not defending any profiteers whether they are local or international. I am ideologically opposed to speculation- buying a commodity at one price and selling it on for another.

Well then you can't pick and choose who to defend if they all operate within that system.

No but I can oppose even further dominance of big business and corporations in society.[/quote:d1ficom3]


Even if it means that the less well off can be ripped off by the smaller profiteers who want their rip off practices protected from the big guns?

There’s a conflict of interest here. On a wider anti-capitalist platform, you may have a point and it is consistent. But it is also absolutely true that those smaller business, who have temporarily adopted your position (big business dominance etc etc) for their own self interest, in this country rip off their customers and faced with no choice those lesser off face further hardship.[/quote:d1ficom3]

I will never support local businesses being forced through financial muscle and economies of scale. What happens to to the former owners and workers of these businesses? Do they just get a new job working minimum wage in Dunnes?[/quote:d1ficom3]

Nice way of avoiding the question. If these local businesses are bloody ripping people off in the first place then I have no sympathy for them nor will I support them. What happens to them is irrelevant thereafter, its their own tough sh*t for being rip off merchants in the first place.

If they are forced to reduce their prices then that is a good thing and can only be a good thing for the less well off. I dont care who sells me food as long as I'm not shafted for the courtesy.[/quote:d1ficom3]

I did not avoid the question, i simply stated that it is not much good if these supermarket giants reduce prices but also reduce the incomes of local people.

[Wolverine2]

Hell, even Ennis (hardly a run down town) has people bypassing it to head to Limerick, now that the Coonagh cross supertesco is open.

It is a big problem, but like any problem it's not insurmountable. What it needs is a concentration of development and specialisation by smaller suppliers.

[Ulster-Lad]

Donegal is an economic basket case. Even during the so-called Celtic Tiger years, there was never a hint of a boom in the county. Pettigo has to be one of the most depressing towns to pass through. It is completely and utterly dead.

Agreed. The roads are in a sorry state and there is no business in the county.