IT’S not just fuel Fermanagh consumers are paying through the nose for, it’s many other day-to-day items too, according to Herald readers.
Following the revelation in last week’s Herald that the cost of filling up our cars was significantly more expensive here in Fermanagh than just up the road in Omagh, readers have got in touch to say they have found the issue of higher prices goes far beyond the petrol pumps.
One of those readers was David Mace, who moved to Fermanagh six years ago to be close to family.
“After a few months, when I was buying things I started to notice it,” said David, who is originally from England. “For 32 years I lived in Strabane and things there were much cheaper there, they still are.”
David said the fuel prices were “only one of the things that rips off the people here.”
For example, he said he paid £25 for bottled gas in Enniskillen, compared to £17.50 in Tyrone. Another time he said he went looking for a new bed. He said the cost in Enniskillen was going to be £1,375, with no mattress . He ended up buying one on Amazon for £150 that included a mattress.
“Many items in Enniskillen are a complete rip off,” said the pensioner. “I know Enniskillen and the surrounding county of Fermanagh has its fair share of millionaires, but it also has many more ordinary families that are being constantly ripped off by the businesses here.”
Stating he and others he knew found their pensions never stretched far enough, David said he felt the price of food particularly expensive in Fermanagh, adding even the bigger supermarkets were more expensive than their sister stores in other places.
David added he did a shop at one local chain recently, and sent his shopping list to a friend in England, and “he came back with a good £10 difference.” At another locally based chain, he said he’d found the price of chicken pieces, which he buys for his two rescue dogs, had jumped from £1.64 a kilo to £2.20 in just a few months.
David said he believed many people here may not even be aware of the higher prices.
“People are so laid back here,” he said. “They don’t notice, they’re just so used to it.”
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