I have a had a debate with a colleague of late around the ideas of nationalism as applied to both consumer and enterprise markets. I am a believer in Irish companies, I think Ireland, with the right policies for investment and growth could continue to punch even further above it’s weight in international trade. The question we were debating is should we buy Irish no matter what?

I think that this doesn’t really do Irish firms any favours at all. Especially in Digital Media where we are competing in global markets, if there isn’t a solid business case for using an Irish company then I don’t think we should. Being able to physically meet and the lack of language difficulties is a solid business reason but has to be balanced by quality and costs.

I believe that especially in the current climate everyone will start to do cost benefit analysis on their service providers and if costs are higher from using Irish companies then this will make them less competitive. Will our global economy mean the end of rip-off Ireland as we look for a better deal? Should we buy Irish anyway to try and support Irish firms or should those firms rationalise and look at the international market and adjust rates and quality to compete?

I say go for the best deal no matter what, but if it’s a close run thing then buy Irish. What do you think?