Retail plan doesn’t guarantee jobs

Your article on August 7 covering plans for a new shopping centre in Limerick was marred by a common fallacy perpetuated by the media, namely that new retail developments will create permanent jobs.

Common sense dictates that there are only a finite number of sustainable retail jobs in the country, assuming a fixed population size. Overall, jobs in new developments simply displace jobs in older establishments, so the end result if the Horizon Mall goes ahead is likely to be more boarded up shops in the city centre.

Neil Cafferkey