It’s fair to say that the Irish are well known for liking the odd drink – but unfortunately it seems that retailers too have caught on to the theory and are willing to charge sky high prices as a result.
According to Eurostat, the European Union’s statistics office, the cost of alcohol in Ireland is higher than anywhere in Europe – as is the cost of tobacco. Indeed its figures also showed that Ireland has the third highest prices for eating out and staying in hotels, just behind Denmark and Sweden and on a par with Finland. It is believed that this will be a blow to Ireland’s hotel industry, which has been promoting Irish holidays as being better value than ever.
The price is not right
In fact it appears the Irish are facing high costs on a host of goods. For example, the cost of cars, bicycles and motorbikes is the third highest in Europe, behind only Denmark and Portugal – although on the plus side, the cost of clothing and personal electronics was below the European average even though it is still cheaper to buy both clothing and personal electronics in the UK.
Overall Ireland is actually the fifth most expensive country in Europe for consumer goods and services. By contrast, the cheapest for alcohol and cigarettes were Bulgaria and Romania – with Albania cheap on most items.
How to secure savings
While goods may be expensive overall in Ireland, there are many ways to bring prices down – particularly by taking advantage of the vouchers codes.
For example, the website carries its own drinks section which can help bring down the price of alcohol. There are voucher codes from the likes of the Guinness Webstore and the Whisky Exchange, or if you prefer something non-alcoholic then look out for savings from the Coca-Cola Store and Café Britt.
Hotels needn’t cost a lot of money either as the site has its own hotels and accommodation section. For example, there are free room upgrades available at Apex Hotels; as well as 15 per cent off two night stays and 20 per cent off three night stays at Best Western Hotels. There are also a host of summer holiday offers available including several voucher codes from Aer Lingus offering flights to and from Ireland to destinations such as Britain, the USA and Europe. Also check out D3als.ie for group-themed accommodation offers.
Photo by Waldemar Brandt on Unsplash