Amazon: What I find utterly baffling is you still cannot download MP3 tracks on Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com from the Republic of Ireland.

You'd think we would be in the "region" for Amazon.co.uk. I mean, there's no problem for me buying the exact same songs through iTunes. The media owners controlling music and films need to move on from the archaic 19th-century concept of being able to control access (and I mean purchasing) by "regions", "borders" and countries. – Denise Cox

Haggling:I haggle for almost every purchase; only this weekend, while spending £400 (in the North of course) on electrical equipment, I managed to get £50 knocked off the price and an external wi-fi lead thrown in. Been doing this for years, actually. The Republic needs to seriously drop prices – until I see this happen I shall not be spending here. – Conor

I think there are quite a lot of retailers still in "Celtic tiger" mode in terms of prices, customer service and overall value for money. I reckon they won't last for too much longer, because people no longer seem willing to accept the nonsense that has prevailed for the past 15 years or so. In particular, I think the restaurant/coffee shop/sandwich bar sectors continue to offer poor value for money. – Peter B