Irish Examiner view: Support your neighbours by shopping local

Christmas shoppers on Henry Street, Dublin; more than €7m will be spent each hour in the scarper to ready gifts to put under the trees on Christmas Day. Picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins

Thursday is expected to be the busiest shopping day of the year, with people from Cork, Limerick, Dublin, and Tipperary expected to be the biggest spenders.

According to research by AIB, which has skin in the game, men will continue to leave their Christmas shopping until the last minute — it hardly required comprehensive research to tell us that — outspending women by 8% on Christmas Eve.

In a sure sign that Covid-19 cannot dampen the dash for gifts, the bank estimates that, based on Christmas 2020 data, more than €7m will be spent each hour in the scarper to ready gifts to put under the trees on Christmas Day.

Consumers will spend €18m each day on groceries in the run-up to Christmas and a further €6m on clothes.

Though the numbers are eye-watering, the good news is that much of that spending will be in local shops, with internet orders unable to compete with physical shops when it comes to delivering on time.

Many people prefer to open a gift rather than receive a voucher, but don’t turn your nose up at the latter this year. 

For those of us able to spend the money and the time, shopping local is imperative this Christmas, as it was last.

Remember that restaurant or bar where you spent a memorable evening? Or the hotel you escaped to when escape was something we could do on a whim? How about the theatres, cinemas, and galleries that lift our spirits all year round?

Shopping local, cutting down on waste, and supporting the institutions most affected by the pandemic is the right call this Christmas.