
'Grocery prices in Ireland hiked overnight and men don't seem to get it'
Consumer expert Conor Pope told recently how we're paying 40% more for shopping than we were in 2021. A weekly trolley that used to cost €150 now costs €225. That's an extra €3,000 a year on groceries, for exactly the same stuff.
I reckon Pope is one of the few men who gets it. Apologies for the mass generalisation lads, but male eyes tend to glaze over if I say a package of coffee now costs €11, or a single fillet steak is now €16.60 in my local Tesco.
They nod their heads, make sympathetic noises, but they haven't a baldy what I'm on about. Because they're generally not the ones who spend half their lives in and out of SuperValu, Tesco and Dunnes.
I meet the odd fella who loves the bargains in Lidl, but most men hate supermarkets and their main aim is to get in and out of them as quickly as possible.
They don't usually have a collection of clubcards, apps and money-off vouchers, working out how to buy the weekly shop on special offers.
They're often the ones footing the bill, as men are still most likely to be the main breadwinners. But if you're not in the aisles, then you're not seeing food inflation play out in real time, not clocking its relentless rise.
So I understand why an exasperated Mary Lou McDonald went postal over it in the Dail on Wednesday. She sounded like she was banging her head off a brick wall trying to get the message across to Taoiseach Micheal Martin.
Mary Lou mocked Micheal for saying grocery prices were simply 'at a relatively elevated level' - saying they were through the roof. Groceries were costing families €1,000 a month, she said, which is 'beyond a joke.' Mary Lou McDonald TD, Sinn Fein leader, addressing the Raise the Roof rally, outside Leinster House, Tuesday 17th, June 2025. (Image: COLLINS PHOTO 2025)
The Sinn Fein leader has made this a crusade - previously highlighting how butter is now a euro more than it was last year, and how a kilo of chicken that was €4.99 in 2022 is now €11. Micheal did the serious politician reaction, talking about global pressures and trades and tariffs and how the Government is limited in its ability.
But that's no use to anyone. That's holding up your hands, helpless, saying: 'Nothing we can do.'
That's a cop out. This is not happening at this rate everywhere, and it's disingenuous and dismissive to frame it so. We've all been away and noticed the huge difference at European checkouts. Figures released last month reveal food prices here are the third highest in the EU at almost 15% above average.
Meat prices are up here 22% in the past year. Why? Supermarkets have denied accusations of price gouging, but in a climate like this, gouging is a real risk. Junior retail minister Alan Dillon acknowledged the impact on consumers and promised action, including new fines.
We should come down hard on anyone in breach. But we should also be investigating why price hikes happened almost overnight. And why are some items far cheaper in small shops or convenience stores than they are in major supermarkets?
In the meantime, it seems to me prices will continue to rise as long as we continue to pay them.
I think the Government will be forced to put a cost-of-living package together, but only for the most in need. The squeezed middle will have to try to find ways around it.
It's up to the consumer to limit the impact in the only way we can - buying special offers, giving up most expensive goods and switching to cheaper own brand products. If enough of us refuse to buy into food inflation, things will change.
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