Local communities need local shops to survive

PRICES were a major topic at the RGDATA members’ summit this week with new research showing consumers to be less price sensitive than media coverage might have you believe.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern certainly took the opposite view. And he threw the well-attended conference a curve-ball when he said the Groceries order had cost about 20% of small retailers their businesses over its 18 years of operation.

That was a reason he abolished the order, he said. The majority in the audience believe however he took the decision because of the pressure he faced from the big giants in the supermarket trade, such as Tesco and Dunnes Stores.