Individual contributions to the general economy.

In the face of the economic situation at the moment I have decided to do the following;

Weekly grocery shopping;
Something I have lost sight of over the last few years is to “buy Irish” where you can. I am now making a very deliberate effort to buy Irish made products wherever possible, now that I’m doing this it’s amazing how many imported products, with a good value Irish made alternative, I have been buying without even noticing, I would say I’ve changed 20/25% of my bill back to extra Irish made products.

Small local services;
Things I usually do myself like, grass cutting, window cleaning, car washing, gutter cleaning, but always have people calling offering these services, I’m now going to take the offer of these services where I can.

Building work;
I have been putting off fitting a new kitchen & making a small extension to the house for years, I’m going ahead with this now using local people & Irish produced materials where possible. I spend a few bob, but I get a better house and supply a bit of work at the same time.

While I’m at this building I’m fitting electricity producing solar panels to the roof of the new extension & water heating solar panels to the main roof (does anyone know if there any Irish produced solar panels at all?). I hope these will pay for themselves over the years and in the meantime they will provide some work in the fitting, make a contribution to the environment + as a bonus they give my home an upgraded rating apparently.

I’m looking for any other suggestions where I can make a change to help the economy.

We buy all our fruit and veg locally as well as most of our meat from the local butcher. They are enterprises worth supporting - they also provide the best quality product.

Great to see a productive post on the economic downturn.

I'm with Johnfás on supporting your local shops rather than the multinationals. Spending a couple of quid extra in the corner shop will help the local economy - and you'll probably buy less in the long run.

Good stuff.... I try to buy Irish at Dunnes where I can (and Lidl just before payday ;-). We spent about 30k on home improvements last year, but that's all gone now. We're overpaying the mortgage... presumably this is giving the banks cash in hand... and we are resolutely leaving the small amounts of savings with the same Irish banking umbrella group as holds the dreaded mortgage. Having said that, how much that can continue if either me or the other half loses pay/childrens allowance/a job, who only knows?? Doesn't look like this recession will leave anyone unscathed.

Re Irish solar, I have seen a rather busy small white van advertising solar services (Irish) on the side, bustling around SE Dun Laoghaire Rathdown quite a lot recently. Sadly, can't remember the name...was it Solaris?? Mind a blank..... but they're out there. Dunno if the actual hardware is Irish made though

Found this last night and checked out the company’s site, they seem like just what I’m looking for.

From Build.ie
Mayo Firm Unveils 'Worlds Most Efficient' Solar Panel
An Irish company today launched what has been described as the most efficient solar panel ever produced.

Surface Power in Co Mayo said it plans to create 20 new jobs over the next 12 months with the launch and international distribution of its breakthrough product.

Independent Certification by TUV Rhineland - the world’s leading testing house - has shown that when compared to other leading solar panels the Irish developed panel was in one case as much as 131% more efficient in morning and evening time and 76% more efficient at midday.

Surface Power said the product, which has undergone six years of development and testing, has the potential to reduce domestic and commercial hot water bills by up to 70% if insulation standards meet new building regulations.

Company founder John Quinn believes that having a very good product result will help drive growth and jobs for the company in 2009.

"The market for the solar collector was worth in excess of one billion dollars in 2008 and has grown by 300% since 1998. We received over 400 enquiries from the USA alone last month after the specifications were released during the Christmas period," he said.

"We also expect the international home renovation market to be very strong during the next three years, as our collector is the only pre-packaged vacuum collector on the world market. This leads to quicker, simpler and cheaper installations," added Mr Quinn.

According to Mr Quinn solar panel has been compared to 52 other collectors which hold the prestigious Solar Keymark certification.

"The biggest difference that was achieved in comparison results was that against flat plate collectors. It is great to see the end of a product development cycle and a huge spike in enquiries from the renovation market in Europe and USA, we have several more products in development and plan to release one per year," he said.

Established in 2003, Surface Power is targeting key world export markets for renewable Commodity products.

The Údarás na Gaeltachta and Enterprise Ireland-backed firm has played a central role in the development of the domestic Renewable sector, especially micro generation.

Kate P wrote:

Great to see a productive post on the economic downturn.

I'm with Johnfás on supporting your local shops rather than the multinationals. Spending a couple of quid extra in the corner shop will help the local economy - and you'll probably buy less in the long run.

Nice idea in principle, if you have the money. It's what many of us were doing up until a few months ago. I made a point of going to the specialist shops in our town each week. Not any more, sorry. Lidl, Lidl and more Lidl in this household - and for the vast majority of the public sector worker housholds just savaged by all those baying for our blood, evil demons that we are. The Irish private sector can go **** itself, quite frankly.

haha Aragon goes to Lidl haha

Jesus Kate p - your local corner shop !!!! You must be shi**ing money. Those feckin places charge one third of the price on top of supermarket prices.

You go there - I won't be joining you I'm afraid, I'll be laughing at Aragon as I shop across the road from her in Aldi.

I should try to buy more locally-produced stuff though which I've been making more of an effort to do.

If it's overly expensive then I'm no gullible patriot I can tell you. Wouldn't mind making more of an effort to visit the local markets around nearby here. There's a brilliant thread by theBear here somewhere on local markets ..... some of the interested people here could use it to put notches on it as they visit the markets and maybe take some photos and do some good coffee/bad coffee recommendations etc. Great stuff there often for presents - I do try to make an attempt to buy locally produced stuff for presents hence my knowledge of the John Rocca range of Waterford Crystal.

My local fruit and veg shop charges marginally more than Lidl and is cheaper than Dunnes.

Lest Aragon forgets, all sectors of this society are suffering due to this economic downturn. The public sector may have just suffered a tough pay cut but equally most in the private sector and a significant proportion are also losing their jobs. **** the private sector? Perhaps we can just all have a job in the public sector then?

Everything in Ireland is a rip off whether it is run by the public sector or the private sector. Look at the cost of public transport for example, or my new passport which cost 80 euro!

tonys wrote:

Found this last night and checked out the company’s site, they seem like just what I’m looking for.

From Build.ie
Mayo Firm Unveils 'Worlds Most Efficient' Solar Panel
An Irish company today launched what has been described as the most efficient solar panel ever produced.

Surface Power in Co Mayo said it plans to create 20 new jobs over the next 12 months with the launch and international distribution of its breakthrough product.

Independent Certification by TUV Rhineland - the world’s leading testing house - has shown that when compared to other leading solar panels the Irish developed panel was in one case as much as 131% more efficient in morning and evening time and 76% more efficient at midday.

Surface Power said the product, which has undergone six years of development and testing, has the potential to reduce domestic and commercial hot water bills by up to 70% if insulation standards meet new building regulations.

Company founder John Quinn believes that having a very good product result will help drive growth and jobs for the company in 2009.

"The market for the solar collector was worth in excess of one billion dollars in 2008 and has grown by 300% since 1998. We received over 400 enquiries from the USA alone last month after the specifications were released during the Christmas period," he said.

"We also expect the international home renovation market to be very strong during the next three years, as our collector is the only pre-packaged vacuum collector on the world market. This leads to quicker, simpler and cheaper installations," added Mr Quinn.

According to Mr Quinn solar panel has been compared to 52 other collectors which hold the prestigious Solar Keymark certification.

"The biggest difference that was achieved in comparison results was that against flat plate collectors. It is great to see the end of a product development cycle and a huge spike in enquiries from the renovation market in Europe and USA, we have several more products in development and plan to release one per year," he said.

Established in 2003, Surface Power is targeting key world export markets for renewable Commodity products.

The Údarás na Gaeltachta and Enterprise Ireland-backed firm has played a central role in the development of the domestic Renewable sector, especially micro generation.

Is that a fact, Tonys.
Great to see positive developments and this story ticks all the boxes doesn’t it, home produced high quality product, technologically advanced, research & development, new jobs, export possibilities, good for the environment. I tell you what, between this, Cowen’s speech and discovery of a new large scale gold mine, by 10 o’clock this morning this place will be awash with positive vibes so it will.

tonys - what pharmas are you on? Seriously? Or is it just a little blow, perhaps? I'd like some of that feel good vibe too.

I just lost a gloomy post - glad I did now, as it would be off topic on this positive thread.
I'll post it somewhere more suitable later on

cactus flower wrote:

I just lost a gloomy post - glad I did now, as it would be off topic on this positive thread.
I'll post it somewhere more suitable later on

Nah, Cactus. You were right first time (even though I ain't seen the post). I can't be doing with this happy clappy stuff right now. Sure, be constructive and do what we can and should - but there's no way I'm fixing a psychotic grin on my face and doing a cheerful chappie routine. Things are plain dire. Except for those who are relishing the punishment of ordinary people. I'm outta here.

Go to your local butchers for your meat. FX Buckley's on Talbot St is fantastic value and good stuff.

evercloserunion wrote:

Go to your local butchers for your meat. FX Buckley's on Talbot St is fantastic value and good stuff.

Good tip. I find the butchers in my town to be cheaper that the traditional supermarkets, though I can't comment on a comparison with Lidl and Aldi as the kids think their meat tastes 'funny'.

My local butcher sells Kangaroo and Crocodile Stakes... don't know how much longer that will last!

Will the win in the 6 nations be good for a bit of an uptick on Monday am?? Sure aren't half the stockbrokers ex players??

more seriously, am thinking now might be a good time to try and create some more employment... have done the home improvements, but am wondering about a cleaner. 2-3 hours twice a month would help me, and there are probably plenty who could use the money......

I have a colleague with a Kenyan wife... he said most Kenyans don't bother with things like washing machines... it's cheaper and more socially responsible out there to employ someone to do the work....I'm not about to dump mine, but the whole find someone something to do concept might be a good one at the moment.....

On the plus side, I've heard of 3 people in the construction industry recently who are all actually busy at the moment....all good guys with loads of recommendations and a "no job too small" kinda attitude, but still.

I guess a leaky roof will still need fixing, even if there IS a downturn. The double glazers have been doing good work on our estate over the last year, too.

Well, I think the thing is there is always opportunity to make money, no matter how the economy is doing. Sure the guys trading on the blackmarket in Zimbabwe of all places will be doing a hell of alot better than most people there and certain groups in Somalia can hop on the back of boats and make millions. The problem is that there is not enough opportunity in such circumstances.

johnfás wrote:

Well, I think the thing is there is always opportunity to make money, no matter how the economy is doing. Sure the guys trading on the blackmarket in Zimbabwe of all places will be doing a hell of alot better than most people there and certain groups in Somalia can hop on the back of boats and make millions. The problem is that there is not enough opportunity in such circumstances.

Well enough is a subjective moveable feast is it not, if we all adjust our expectations by the necessary 10/20%, suddenly not enough can become enough and we go from there.

Contributing to the economy? Well I did spend €16.50 on a rather nice Indian from a take-away last night.