Daft Property - Irish Property News

FF's parting gift of corporate welfare will sink the country... A farmer told me he had just taken €53,000 out of the local bank and put it under his bed YESTERDAY was the feast of the Immaculate Conception. In many other Catholic countries, particularly in Belgium and southern Holland, this is also the week that Santa comes and leaves presents in children's shoes. For many, both the Immaculate Conception and Santa Claus are simply not believable. For me as a child, December 8 was a day off school and that's all that counted. What would Christmas be without Santa, or Catholicism without the Immaculate Conception? You can't have one without the other. Even if you don't believe, sometimes it is easier to pretend. The Budget was akin to the Government playing a big game of 'let's pretend'. Let's pretend that the banks are solvent. Let's pretend that the problem in Ireland is 'social' welfare rather than 'corporate' welfare (because t...

€500k Christmas lights 'an antidote'... The capital's Christmas lights this year have cost a staggering €500,000, but are being offered as an "antidote to the recession". The launch of the Christmas lights may be one of the most honoured traditions of the festive season, but this year's half-a-million-euro price tag has raised eyebrows. Funds for the lights, which will be launched in the capital next week, have been provided by the Dublin City Business Improvement District (BID) and Bord Gais, in partnership with a number of retailers on Henry Street. Although spending is tight as the country spirals further into recession, and costs are cut everywhere, this seasonal tradition is one that Dubliners will not have to say goodbye to. Richard Guiney, CEO of Dublin City BID said: "Christmas in Dublin is a magical experience. "The enchanting atmosphere is unmissable and is something that people travel from all over the world each year to enjoy and experien...

Public to ignore recession with festive spending... IRISH shoppers will spend twice as much as their European counterparts on presents, food and socialising this Christmas despite the recession. Households will fork out an average of €1,110 during the festive season – almost double the €600 that will be spent in Europe. This is despite shoppers saying they will spend 30% less on gifts, 6% less on food and 22% less on socialising this Christmas, according to figures compiled by accountancy firm Deloitte. Irish people plan to spend three times more on socialising than those in Germany and Italy this Christmas. An average of €180 per household will be spent at pubs and restaurants, which is the highest spend in Europe. In an attempt to lure shoppers, retailers said they plan to begin their sales earlier than ever this year, according to chief executive of Retail Excellence Ireland (REI) David Fitzsimons. "You’ll find a lot of nervous retailers out there who are keen to convert stock ...

We're getting back to basics in these recessionary times... ANYONE WHO, like me, has only recently learned to appreciate the wonders of Lidl will not be surprised by Ulster Bank's recent revelation that spending took the biggest nosedive since 1983 in the first three quarters of this year and Irish consumers continue to spend cautiously in the run up to Christmas. There was a time when the stark lighting, the anaemic decor (would a cheery sunburst yellow colour scheme be out of the question Mr Lidl?) and that curiously earthy smell once you hit the door (what is that?) was enough to have some of us running to the more sweet smelling Superquinn for cover. But our priorities are changing and we're discovering that rampant parsimony has its thrills. The psyche of a nation, formed over 10 years of profligate spending, is under review and it's not just property we're holding back on, but household goods, which Ulster Bank attributes to the weakness in the housing market,...

Dublin's early Xmas lights failing to dispel high street gloom... Christmas is coming early to Dublin this year as city officials try to dispel the gloom from the country's first recession in two decades. Mayor Eibhlin Byrne will switch on the Irish capital's festive lights display on Nov. 9, before cities such as London, New York and Edinburgh, after bringing the ceremony forward by three weeks from last year. ''For retailers, it's not an easy time,'' said Byrne. ''We are harking back to John F. Kennedy and we are asking not what your city can do for you but what you can do for your city.'' Irish shoppers powered the fastest-growing economy in Western Europe over the last five years. Now, consumers are cutting spending as unemployment rises and property prices slump. Gerry Harvey, chairman of Sydney-based electronics and furniture retailer Harvey Norman Holdings Ltd., which has four Dublin stores, described Ireland's economy as '...