Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
THE IRISH FARMERS Association (IFA) has accused SuperValu of acting “unethically” with one of their special offers, which gives customers 2kg of potatoes and 850g of carrots for free when they buy a round roast.
The beef in question is already promoted at a discounted price, and the IFA believes it is another example of why political intervention is needed to ensure farmers are getting a “fair share” of the consumer price.
In response, SuperValu said that they fund the cost of this promotion themselves, and they remain committed to work with their suppliers “to build long-term, sustainable partnerships”.
IFA President Joe Healy said: “In this case, there isn’t even a consumer price to get a share of. It demonstrates the need for a clear ban on below-cost selling of food.
This sort of stunt is a race to the bottom. Farmers have little or no market power and they will ultimately bear the brunt of this type of unethical price promotion.
He also said that retailers “cannot pretend” such price promotions do not have serious consequences for the sales of other competing fresh products such as broccoli and cauliflower.
“This distorts the market for everyone,” Healy said, “regardless of whether your product is on promotion or not.”
Healy added he is seeking an urgent meeting with SuperValu to address these concerns.
In response to a request from TheJournal.ie, a statement from SuperValu said: “The current promotional offer, designed as part of our ongoing effort to encourage customers to cook with Irish produce, has been planned and agreed in consultation with our suppliers.
The entire cost of this promotion is funded by SuperValu.
“SuperValu sources from over 2,200 Irish suppliers, equating to an annual economic contribution of €2.19 billion. We are committed to working with our suppliers to build long-term sustainable partnerships.”
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
That’s nice, two Americans telling the Irish not to pollute the world. Thanks for that.
@Fred the Muss: More like asking us not to enable polluters. It’s their land that’s being tracked, that’s less likely to happen if we don’t buy the gas. It may be cheap in the tank but ecologically the cost is much greater for everyone
@Fred the Muss: Varadkar has been scaremongering about energy security. He told the Dáil on 22nd October that Corrib will run out “quite soon”, leaving us dependent on “a single pipeline from the UK”, and prone to “blackouts”. This is the line used by the oil and gas lobby to pressure for more fossil fuel investment.
In fact, the energy security situation is very different to that. Two weeks earlier, the head of Gas Networks Ireland, Denis O’Sullivan, told a Seanad Special Select Committee on October 8th that Ireland’s security of supply was “very robust”, thanks to “two completely independent” pipelines from the UK. And O’Sullivan told the Joint Committee on Communications, Climate Action and the Environment on October 15th that Corrib had a lifespan of 12 to 15 years. Climate scientists have warned that we must get out of gas before then anyway. So Varadkar’s scaremongering is very misleading, in a way that helps the cause of the fossil fuel industry.
@Fred the Muss: Fracking is stupid and dangerous, it doesn’t pay for itself and it pollutes shale with Depleted Uranium and remember Gulf War Syndrome…
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11259733
At some point you have to start kicking the habit of fossil fuels. Saying the lights will go out has echoes of ‘the ATMs will run out of money’.
@jamesdecay:give me one example of a reneawble that can give 100% surety of supply.
@leeser: Tidal
@leeser: biomass. We produce plenty of s##te. Maybe some more than others…
@leeser: wind
@leeser: geothermal
@Mark V: wind does not give surety of supply. Its not always windy. These precious wind turbines are fitted with a diesel generator to help them start up when there’s no wind.Try again.
@Daniel Lehane: biomass would be a great source. Werent the ESB opposed to using biomass by enviromental groups? Albeit mixed with peat.
@leeser: “:give me one example of a reneawble that can give 100% surety of supply.”
A constant, reliable, renewable energy source?
Hydroelectricity, Geothermal, Tidal, Biomass.
Norway produces 98% of it’s energy via renewable energy, hydroelectricity. Iceland produces 100% of its energy via renewable energy, 87% hydro and the remainder via geothermal.
Ireland can produce 100% of it’s energy via renewable energy, we need to store and import electricity for lean times.
We can store energy in Pumped Storage Hydroelectric plants (“Batteries”) that can generate stored energy during lean times, build several Turlough Hills.
We can also import electricity using High-voltage Direct Current transmission lines. There’s plans to lay a HTDC power line from France to Ireland (71.6% of electricity production in France is generated by Nuclear Power).
In the future, solar power could be imported to Europe from North Africa via HTDC or superconducting power lines (there are a few superconducting power lines but that technology needs improvement). Electricity could be traded internationally like oil or gas is today.
https://www.powermag.com/benefits-of-high-voltage-direct-current-transmission-systems/
@leeser: you’re right, I just checked there. There are plonkers on both sides of every debate! However the ESB were talking about using wood biomass mixed with peat, which is a bit ridiculous. I would imagine fairly minimal changes need to be made to peat burning plants to just burn something else like sewage for biomass. Would also save us pumping sewage into rivers etc. And biomass is unfortunately still not the best solution as it is CO2 producing, as burning anything is. However it could be useful in those situations when ‘the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow’ to paraphrase Richard Bruton. And more forest cover to offset the CO2. It just takes some balls and commitment from the Irish government,and people in general, to push these essential changes through.
@leeser: I think your question has been well and truly answered.
@Daniel Lehane: Biomass such as wood does not contribute to CO2 levels in the atmosphere as long as its from a managed source i.e. trees are replanted. The CO2 released in burning gets reabsorbed by the growing trees to be burned when ready. A small amount each time is actually captured longer term in the ash.
@Darren Byrne: I did say reforestation would offset the CO2 production. However I would still say it makes more sense to burn sewage/animal manure, which will be produced regardless, than to plant trees specifically to burn them. The trees can still be planted, and still need to be. It would also keep sewage out of the water table.
@leeser: reading all your objections against alternatives it becomes clear; you don’t want an alternative.
@jojo: i only asked a question and the good people answered!
@David Jordan: I agree David, hydro electric is probably the best way forward given that we have so many rivers in this country. Isn’t there under water turbines in the Hudson river that use the power of the current? Im amazed that there havent been more built. Having gone through the list of active hydro electric dams in Ireland im suprised as there seems to be more than i previously thought. I’m just at the mindset of land based wind turbines being too invasive. Either put them out at sea or dont build them at all. Interesting you mention Norway, i lived there for 2 years. One thing you dont see many of is Wind Turbines.
@Mark V: I only object to land based wind turbines. They are invasive and useless.
@leeser: Wave and tidal energy.
Why not let them build it? LNG is a cleaner fuel, granted it must be extracted from the ground. But so does the Lithium for batteries for the massive influx of EV’s about to hit our roads.
@leeser: The fuel is cleaner but the extraction process is much worse, and wider ranging, even than open pit lithium extraction. It releases huge amounts of byproduct gasses, destroys clean water sources and causes widespread geological instability. It’s not worth it.
@leeser: cleaner fuel yes, but there is cleaner options available. Why aim for anything less?
@leeser: certainly not safer – if an LNG Plant goes into the equivalent of a meltdown, 1m3 of the Liquid Natural Gas becomes 600m3 of Gas. To put that plainly, there goes Limerick City, Most of Clare and that’s just the blast perimeter. This doesn’t take into account the environmental fallout.
Yes it’s never happened, but I’d wager someone somewhere say that about Fukushima, Sellafield, Chernobyl etc. ?
@Martin Peter Rahill.: its no where near Limerick City. Its being built in rural west Limerick. I say build it. That area needs jobs.
@leeser: It uses Depleted Uranium and that causes sterility and cancer, it also releases Radon gas as well as my links show in other comments on here.
@leeser: tthe windfall is the issue – not the proximity to Limerick
Who gives two Fuu*ccckss what they think
Ridiculous how the Journal are now deleting stories in their feed about certain brides
Leo what about your support for a terminal on Shannon Estuary to refine imported fracked gas from USA for EU market that will release methane gas 100 times more potent than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas..
As for other comments on here
Distract Deceive Divide..
Remember Whitty Island????
@Kerry Evans: methane gas will not be released as this is a very valuable fuel commercial used in many industries around Ireland as a cheap alternative to nat gas. It is generated from waste created by industry such as waste water treatment plants which then use it for the treatment process
@Kerry Evans: Whiddy?
Well if Cher and the Hulk say so then Leo will listen. I mean imagine if they joined forces what would they do to us!!! I’d go ahead and build it out of spite (minus the tanks and lines), just to see what they say then just use it as a supply base for offshore renewables and possibly in the short term exploitation of our own resources until we have the others established to transition to.
All we need now is for Kylie Minogue to stick her oar in and Leo will cancel the project
@Inanimate Carbon Rod: All fracking would do here is release more Radon gas and that would be crazy…
@Inanimate Carbon Rod: Fracking is dangerous and doesn’t work, at best every fracking well can only pay for half of its cost and many only have a time of 2 years of gas production.
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/09/hillary-clinton-fracking-shale-state-department-chevron/
https://theintercept.com/2016/05/23/hillary-clinton-fracking/
Shut it Down..no brainer
@Marianne: Radioactive depleted Uranium is used in fracking and that enters drinking water…
https://patents.google.com/patent/US4441428
http://patents.com/us-20110000669.html
@Marianne: https://frack-off.org.uk/locations/ According to that map Clare and Sligo are for being fracked as well… http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-5036431/How-fracking-boom-damaged-America-s-air-quality.html
@Marianne: https://www.globalresearch.ca/depleted-uranium-for-dummies/2269
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQyz00DCy-4&fbclid=IwAR3lz95u-myzUQBAnYqP0_EVeWIfoIScetuPK257PPGHeecoNONrAnKCUPE Depleted Uranium is toxic stuff even used for fracking…
@Marianne: https://www.jpost.com/Israel/IDF-ammo-in-Gaza-had-depleted-uranium
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Lb4o0nxAkk&fbclid=IwAR1J4x8LyB66kO1FNABjo4Q1k_lLAs3kuBN9jftLoj4iWsAKKU_1svEZnMQ
That is the hidden side effect from Fracking that no one wants to talk about, how many here have wells and springs to drink from, Fracking is pollution and should be banned.
So let me get this right,if Ballylongford doesn’t go ahead fracking will immediately cease all over the world! Are these people for real?its like saying if Joe Bloggs gives up drinking Guinness will stop brewing. this part of north Kerry is crying out for industry and we should listen to people like Cher,?Iwho spends more on plastic surgery than the average person spends on groceries in a year.Let Americans sort out their own mess a city like Detroit probably causes more pollution in a week than Ireland does in a year Its time we copped on to these do gooders and started looking after our own
@Thomas Devlin: it will be mostly Qatar gas anyways , they are the worlds biggest supplier of LNG
Putting Longford on the map
@Steve Smith: Ballylongford- co Limerick.
@leeser: Co. KERRY
@Steve Smith: Yeah it’s great publicity for the midlands
hulk smash
P
have your say