Hundreds of thousands of pounds have been spent on a Fermanagh facelift in Northern Ireland as the county prepares for the G8 summit in just under three weeks’ time. More than 100 properties within range of the sumptuous Lough Erne resort which hosts the world’s wealthiest leaders, have been tidied up, painted or power-hosed.
Just a few weeks ago, Flanagan’s – a former butcher’s and vegetable shop in the village of Belcoo– was cleaned and repainted with bespoke images of a thriving business placed in the windows. Any G8 delegate forgetting to wind down the rose-tinted limo-window on the way to discuss global capitalism would easily be fooled into thinking that all is well with the free-market system in Fermanagh.
But, as anyone outside the venue knows, the facts are different…..
In a high street in any other part of the UK, disguising empty shop windows can be a means of encouraging the consumer to spend, instead of being put off by reminders of ‘triple-dip’ flat-lining…
Covering shop windows close to a G8 summit becomes a political statement….
However, our world leaders know more than we the political realities and consequences of their decisions and hopefully the sight of Flanagan’s will generate more than a sound-bite on arrival at the Lough Erne resort....
No comments:
Post a Comment