The aim of the project was to promote Irish goods in the local and surrounding communities and to create awareness of the impact that Irish goods and services have on the Irish economy. They selected this project as they believed it was an important topic for which they could do a great amount. They felt they could really dedicate themselves to it as they were all very interested in it.
Even though the difference they made might not be big at the start, they hoped that it would spread around the local area and the country and hopefully make more people listen and buy more Irish products. It’s an easy switch to make with a big impact.
The Action
During the project they worked with many influential sources – Guaranteed Irish, Supervalu, Tesco, Centra, The Echo local newspaper, The Standard local newspaper, Town and Country, Liffey Sound FM and many small local businesses. While working with the Echo, they requested them to write an article, which helped to promote the project and also highlight the importance of buying local and buying Irish. The actions taken varied in impact from an in-school cooking competition to handing out free Christmas brochures on the street. Others included Christmas Hampers, for which products were donated the local shops and businesses, labels in shops highlighting what products were Irish-made, all-Irish vending machines in school, a Buy Irish awareness day in school, a Christmas-themed bake sale and Be Irish Buy Irish wristbands sold around the local town and schools along with a can of club orange and a Cadbury’s Dairymilk.
The Impact
Their plans for the future were to expand the project nationwide. They needed to inspire the people of Ireland to spread the message and encourage others to ‘Be Irish, Buy Irish’. They planned to work with South East Radio and place an advertisement in a national newspaper. They hoped to spread the word about the project so as to obtain more followers on their Facebook and Twitter and on the website www.beirishbuyirish.weebly.com. Their dream was to achieve national success and acknowledgement for the project so people in other communities would make the change they were making in theirs. They took baby steps that others could follow.
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