Buying Irish - Choose to save jobs

TONIGHT RTÉ will broadcast one of the annual set pieces of Irish television.

The Late Late Toy Show has, for many years, been one of the opening dramas of Christmas. It helped create so many hopes and expectations that even in the very best of times not all of them could be realised.

In these straitened times that may be the situation facing many families where parents or relatives cannot be as generous as they might wish to be.

However, there is one thing we should all do as we prepare for Christmas. We should make sure that we do all we can to support Irish retailers and manufacturers because if we don’t we may have even fewer choices than we do today when Christmas 2012 comes around.