How patriotic is it to shop in New York?

IF Finance Minister Brian Lenihan thinks it’s unpatriotic to shop in the North, surely it’s more unpatriotic to fly to New York on shopping trips, as many do.

After all, Northern Ireland is part of the EU and a sizeable part of this island.

It’s even less patriotic for Fás to pay out more than $400 for a cut and blow-dry in Florida when there are plenty of hairdressing salons in Ireland which would do a better job for a lot less money.