Love-struck men willing to pay above the odds for roses

TRUE love is priceless but not so if you want to buy a dozen red roses today, Valentine’s Day.

For the price of a bunch of the blooms today is €90 - up a whopping 60% on a month ago.

An Irish Examiner straw poll of 12 florists - in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford - a month ago revealed the average price of a dozen roses to be around €60.

Yet when we called back yesterday the prices had risen to around €90 - a high price even by the standards of Eddie Hobbs’ Rip Off Republic.

The florists insisted they were simply passing on the costs from the wholesalers, who were buying them from countries such as Holland.

But the Consumers’ Association of Ireland is now urging love-struck men to exercise their discretion - and buy their loved-ones cheaper blooms or use the money for shoes for her instead.

Chairman Michael Kilcoyne said: “In my view these prices are about double what you would pay in other European countries. There really is no excuse for people having to go to a florists for red roses when you can buy the same product in supermarkets for about a third of the price.

“I’m sure women would much prefer chocolate or a voucher for €90 to spend on shoes or a dress.”

High prices, though, seem not to have deterred the nation’s men - for at least two of the florists had sold out of their red roses by yesterday.

Meanwhile supermarket giant Tesco was yesterday advertising a dozen red roses for €24.99 to tempt cut-price romantics in search of a bargain.

Similarly, Cadbury’s Roses chocolates were in plentiful cheap supply - with the makers also commissioning a St Valentine’s Day survey.

Lansdowne Market Research quizzed 1,000 people last month and found 68% believe romance in Ireland is alive and well.

Munster men and women were adjudged to be the most romantic - even going so far as to rate themselves as top-notch lovers.

The poll also found that technology is no bar to passion with 44% of people admitting they had sent their partners text messages saying “I love you.”

The nation’s under-25s see themselves as the most romantic section of the population, leaving their ‘olders and betters’ trailing behind.