It's 'Fiver Friday' This Friday

While the Greeks protest harsh economic austerity measures in Athens, the good Irish people are dealing with their own hard times with “Fiver Friday” on July 1.
RTE presenter Joe Duffy suggested that regular punters go out and spend an extra fiver locally on Friday to stimulate the economy. Retailers and service people responded with special offers – a meal, a car wash, a wedding photo, concert tickets, etc. – for a fiver. The offers have flooded the radio station’s phone lines. Two hundred businesses in Mullingar alone are participating.
Fires are burning and tear gas is filling Athens streets. One man explained, “We have the sun, the tourists, some vegetables and olive oil,” and no other industry. There is no way Greece will be able to pay the mammoth debt it has taken on. The cuts to pensions and social services are desperate measures for desperate times.
The threat of the same thing happening in Ireland has been put off only because the Irish people go willingly along with the budget cuts – they complain and call into the talk shows, but very few would come out on the streets like the Greeks.
Hope that Fiver Friday adds a few bob to the pockets of many Irish shopkeepers who are trying to provide for their families in difficult times.