^Mayo Fine Gael TD John O’Mahony is calling on people to shop in Mayo this Christmas and support Mayo employers and employees. In an attempt to create awareness of the importance of shopping locally, Deputy O’Mahony is making an appeal to shoppers to ‘stop and think’ before they leave the county to do their seasonal shopping.
“Now, more than ever, the retail sector needs the support of its own people as do the people who are employed within the sector here in Mayo. Local employers contribute so much to the local community by means of employment and their support of local organisations through contributions and sponsorship.
“It’s highly unlikely that the retail giants operating outside of Mayo will support Mayo organisations on the same scale that the locals do and I think it’s important that we all take that on board when we set out to do our Christmas shopping this year,” he said.
Dep O’Mahony said times were tough at the moment and the local traders and industries needed support. “Some years ago there was always a buy local campaign aimed at shoppers for the Christmas period but that seems to have disappeared these past few years with people heading North, and it has became common for people to even fly to New York to do their Christmas shopping. I know too that the shopper wants value for money and that, in reality, is the bottom line, but I’m confident that there is real value for money to be had here in Mayo and I am urging people to think local this Christmas,” he said.
