Orlagh Winters: Forget Online Shopping And Support Local This Christmas

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Orlagh Winters at the Connect Kerry Ladies Lunch in aid of Recovery Haven at Ballyroe Heights Hotel on Sunday. Photo by Dermot Crean

SO it is definitely feeling like Christmas in town and the lights and decorations are just fantastic.

Huge kudos goes to Sean Murphy and his hardworking team for the magnificent lighting displays all over town.

As many of you who have ever heard me MC an event, I always point out how important it is to shop local and this is never more vital than at Christmas time.

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When you buy from independent retailers you are helping our own economy. You are securing jobs for future generations and you are helping the town to thrive.

I write this  at a time that internet shopping is omnipresent in every household. I get that there are some items that you can’t get in shops in town, but wherever possible support your own.

I constantly make the point that when every charity, school and club in the community is looking for a handout be it in the guise of a donation or a spot prize, they visit the local businesses.

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Well now is the time to give back to them and go spend your euros in their establishments.

Tralee is a damn good town with lots to offer,  great shops, great pubs,  great hotels and great restaurants and I hate when locals are negative about it.

I know that neighbouring towns are equally as good and it galls me when I hear of buses leaving town at the weekends to socialise in other towns. Why take business elsewhere?

Remember when you spend in your local community, you are creating jobs for the future generations.

Local designers such as Rebekah Wall, Carol Kennelly and Karyn Moriarty are so talented that every week ladies are queuing up to have them design bespoke pieces for them. They are at the top of the game in the Irish Fashion Industry and they are right here on our doorstep.  Appreciate their talent and buy from them.

Local artist John Hurley is an incredibly gifted man whose work is sold worldwide and is also a very generous man often donating  his artwork for charity auctions. Visit his gallery on Denny Street and see for yourself his mindblowing work.

Every day there are boxes of sweets, bottles of wine, gift vouchers and other items handed over by local shops, pubs, hotels and restaurants to locals collecting for their schools, clubs or charities.

It is time to remember this generosity when you are buying Christmas gifts, planning nights out or simply having lunch or dinner in town.

According to economists, we are turning the page on one of the worst recessions and our economy is beginning to grow. This won’t happen if we are sending the money to the UK or the US by shopping online.

Be part of Tralee’s recovery by shopping local and keeping the money in our town. For those of you who haven’t yet seen the lights in town at night, I strongly recommend that you make the effort, as I said they really are magnificent.

Until next week,

Shop local!

Orlagh x

2 Comments

  1. Here, Here, One of the largest financial drains on the Irish economy has been the new car “Scrappage Scheme”. Local car dealers create a lot more jobs on the secondhand car trade plus the ordinary New Car trade as it is. We don’t manufacture cars in Ireland so the Scrappage scheme only serves to drain the country of badly needed money. Supporting Irish productions is how you keep the money in this country. Trading with other countries is of course very important but not as a surge like the “Car Scrappage Scheme”

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