Cllr Nigel Dineen and Michael Fitzmaurice TD have launched a campaign entitled “Think Local, Shop Local” which aims to boost local businesses at Christmas.
Speaking at the launch Cllr Nigel Dineen commented “I am pleased to be launching such an important and proactive initiative today together with Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice TD. This campaign highlights the crucial importance of local people staying local and doing their big Christmas shop and indeed their everyday shop in their local community, where there is a great variety of goods and foodstuffs on offer”.
Cllr Dineen explained
“The slogan: ‘Think Local, Shop Local’ is derived from the environmental Slogan ‘Think Global, Act Local’, which literally means that if we think about global warming we will need to act locally to fix or rectify damage done. Likewise if we really feel passionate about the rural economy of rural Ireland, retaining and creating local jobs and if we are really serious about maintaining and increasing rural population levels, which will ensure critical population mass, which will in turn attract the necessary rural services, which are so vital for business and enterprise, then we really need to ‘Shop Local’.
Michael Fitzmaurice commented that
“Businesses throughout this region make a very special effort every day to bring the best value possible to their customers. They are also the businesses who communities call on for support when it comes to fundraising and so on. In fairness to most businesses they make the effort to go the extra-mile for their communities and they should be rewarded for that extra effort.”
Cllr Dineen continued:
“If we focus on and ‘THINK’ about local rural jobs then we must ‘SHOP’ local also. If we think about jobs for future generations to come then we must ‘Shop Local’. The only people benefiting from a mass exodus of rural people to large cities and across border regions are the future generations of those cities and border towns, not our own children or our children’s children”.
Deputy Fitzmaurice said
“We all know the importance of supporting local businesses. Big corporates have been very successful in making us think we have to travel for value. The reality is that there is amazing value to be got in each and every town and village. I would ask anyone who would normally travel to do their Christmas shopping to take the time to think about what is on offer in their home towns first,”
Fitzmaurice continued “Very often there is great value on our doorsteps but first and foremost we must think to look for that value. Give it a shot this Christmas and stay local. You might be amazed at the value you can get.”
Nigel Dineen concluded,
“I hope this proactive initiative, which is a public awareness/education initiative, will lift our rural economies let alone at Christmas time but right throughout the year and that the message ‘THINK LOCAL, SHOP LOCAL’ will become the pervasive mind set of our local communities, thereby raising the fortunes of our shops, businesses, trades people, farmers and the whole wave of business entities and spin-offs that make up our rural economies in our local towns, villages and rural areas,” with Michael Fitzmaurice adding “We have to consider that if it were not for these local businesses and the jobs they create that this region would not be as vibrant as it is and we need to ensure that into the future we support these businesses. In Roscommon alone, over 90% of jobs are in small and medium sized businesses, that is one of the strengths of this region and with the support of the public we can have Happy Christmas’s for many years to come.”
Cllr. Dineen and Deputy Fitzmaurice concluded by wishing one and all a very Happy Christmas and a Prosperous New Year“ adding “lets all lift our glasses to toast ‘Think Local, Shop Local’ this Christmas, and let there be a Prosperous New Year for all.”