BELFAST BRIEFING:Shopping across the Border is not a political issue - it is all about economics, writes, Francess McDonnell

FORGET PATRIOTISM. The real issue at the heart of the debate over whether thousands of enthusiastic shoppers from the Republic should be heading north today can be simply explained by a Bratz doll.

That is according to one of the North's most successful property and business entrepreneurs.

As far as Dr Gerard O'Hare is concerned it is a simple matter of economics - Bratz dolls, like many other things, are cheaper in Newry than they are in the South of Ireland.

Dr O'Hare does not believe cross-Border shopping is a political issue - it is just an economic issue, and anyone who tries to suggest it should be political is out of touch with "modern-day Ireland".

For him it is not just an economic issue - it is also fast becoming an emotional one.

Dr O'Hare is Newry born and bred. He is also regularly estimated to be one of the wealthiest people on the island.

His property company, Parker Green International, owns the Quays shopping centre in Newry - possibly one of the most celebrated cross-Border shopping venues in the North this year.

The group's international headquarters is based in Newry, and its offices overlook the car park of the Quays shopping centre.

Nothing, it would appear, gives Dr O'Hare greater joy than seeing the constant procession of southern-registered cars - most of which are frantically searching for a parking space at this time of year.

He claims that he personally is not making a penny from the massive influx of shoppers from the South each day, because car parking is free at the Quays. However, his retail tenants such as Sainsbury and Debenhams are certainly enjoying the attention of the euro-wielding shoppers.

Parker Green International is one of Ireland's most successful property and investment groups. It has a portfolio which reaches from Newry to the US and across Europe, including the UK and Ireland.

It owns the Fairgreen Shopping Centre in Carlow and is developing the Crystal West retail park and leisure development in Waterford.

Dr O'Hare says he personally is "quite insulted by the suggestion that it is unpatriotic of Irish people to shop in Newry".

"This is not about politics, it is about economics and those who are in charge of economics. This is all about bringing the benefits of two economies on the one island together and making the most of it.

"That is what modern-day Ireland is about, and anyone who goes back to patriotism in the sense of nationalism is harking back to 1916 and 1921, when two-thirds of the island got themselves sorted out from the English hierarchy on that occasion and forgot about the rest of us for 60 years - don't forget about that, Brian Lenihan - and I am not a republican," says Dr O'Hare.

He believes the appeal to people in the South to be patriotic and shop at home is a "misguided, knee-jerk reaction".

"How can you be a Scrooge and blame people from the South . . . for buying, for example, Pampers at half the price in Newry?

"Are you going to blame the mother who can afford to buy the Bratz doll that her little daughter wants now because it is half the price in Newry compared to what it is in Dublin?"

He questions exactly what message political leaders in the South are trying to get across.

"Are Brian Lenihan and all of these other politicians and leaders in the Republic of Ireland saying that they should build a new Berlin Wall to stop children enjoying the joy of Christmas that they are entitled to because they cannot get their pricing point right in the Republic of Ireland? It is just a joke."

He believes the fact that people travel from South to North on a daily basis is about "survival on the basis of economics".

"The real focus should be on the pricing - the Irish Republic is pricing itself out of the market, not just the Irish island of Ireland but out of the market, full stop."

He says there is no question that Newry would want or try to "undermine the Republic of Ireland".

"We see ourselves very much as a Newry-Dundalk sub-region - a cross-Border sub-region.

"We celebrate when Dundalk gets a new Xerox factory or a Heinz factory. We know that they are getting that on the back of their corporation tax advantage and we know that those 500 or 1,000 jobs will help sustain the sub-region. They are going to give work to young graduates from Newry - we celebrate that."

He says politicians in the South should remember that Newry has had to fight its way up from a zero position to where it is today.

"Look at where we came from in Newry - we came out of 26/27 per cent unemployment in 1991 and now we are closer to 2 per cent. It is a completely new city and it is being talked about across the world. We joined the euro with the Republic of Ireland and the rest of the UK didn't.

"We get off our backside in Newry and we do things, so maybe it is time those in charge in the Irish Republic should start thinking about doing the same.

"Newry's transformation has been organic, it has been a 'shake yourself, boys, and get on with it'."

He says Newry has not benefited from "any mega-investments from governments - North or South".

Instead, Dr O'Hare says a change in the mindset delivered the transformation that was needed to put Newry on the map.

"A new generation came in and said we are not putting up with this any more, and that which was our decree is now our strength - our location on the two principal cities of Ireland.

"We have suffered because of the downturn and the global crunch as much as the Republic. This is a great area for construction workers; a lot of them did very well during the Celtic Tiger in the Republic of Ireland - they have all lost jobs. We have to balance that as well - but we don't whinge about it, we just get on with it."

Dr O'Hare believes that "instead of whinging about it, the Republic of Ireland needs to waken up".

But not before Brian Lenihan and any one else who believes it is unpatriotic to shop in Newry "apologises to the decent people of the island of Ireland".

"Neither those of us in the North who are creating the opportunity for those in the South to come north and get benefits or those who come north to shop are being unpatriotic. We are what we are - we are one island with two economies, and we are becoming closer as a people on all fronts," Dr O'Hare said.