The shock news of the week is Superquinn going into receivership. After all, of all the Irish supermarkets, it's the most expensive. I know, because my local supermarket is a Superquinn. I spend a fortune there. I'd much prefer to use Tesco, but it's too far to go just for a loaf of bread and a pint of milk.
The problem is when I take the dog down for a walk to Superquinn to get a loaf of bread and a pint of milk (about 4 times a week), I come back with €30 worth of groceries. Having said that, this usually includes a bottle of wine, of which Superquinn have a great selection.
Anyway, the reason Superquinn is in receivership isn't because the retailer doesn't make profit - it does! It's just that the owner, Ferghal Quinn, owes the banks approximately €400 million on property deals gone bad. Really a case of 'you should have stuck to what you're good at'. The good news is 2,800 jobs have been saved by Musgrave stepping in to buy the beleaguered supermarket. Or have they?
Under Irish law, the receiver, KPMG, is only obliged to clear the bank mortgage debt. So the banks will get the money. The supermarket's 660 suppliers, small businesses and producers, mostly based in Ireland will be lucky to see a cent. And it is these hardworking small firms that need it most. Instead, they'll be told 'tough', as the useless banks take the lion's share. As a result, many will go under and most will shed jobs. Unemployment goes up, the economy goes down. The government will use the smokescreen of its stupid, useless employment creation scheme, instead of protecting existing Irish jobs by punishing the bankers.
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