‘Wealthy’ Tipperary population is key to success of gift card scheme
Tipperary’s “wealthy” population has been key to the success of a local gift card scheme, with more than €250,000 spent in Tipperary since its launch.
The Love Tipperary gift card was launched in November 2024 in an attempt to keep money in the county and to support local businesses.
The card was launched by County Tipperary Chamber, in association with Tipperary County Council, and is a prepaid gift card, allowing recipients to spend money in more than 300 participating businesses.
At the November meeting of the Thurles Municipal District, councillors were briefed on the success of the card, and the importance of highlighting it in the run up to Christmas.
Councillors were told that any money on the Love Tipperary gift cards can only be spent in Tipperary. Despite retailers like Aldi, Penneys and DID Electrical – who have outlets outside the county – accepting the card, it can only be spent in their Tipperary branches.
During the briefing, councillors were told that Tipperary has a wealthy population, with an above average disposable income.
"We are a very strong county, the average disposable income across Ireland in 2023 was 103pc, and the average disposable income in Tipperary was 108pc, so we have a wealthy population.
"While we do have a lot of social issues and challenges, and there are means and ways to address them, we also have a very wealthy population with a very high disposable income,” the meeting was told.
"But what does a disposable income of 108pc actually mean per person per county? It means that every person in the county in 2023 had short of €30,000 that they could choose to spend on products or things they wished to do aside from their responsibilities, and we want to make sure that that money stays in our county” councillors heard.
Over €1.3billion was spent on credit or debit cards in Tipperary alone, with an additional €639million being spent on contactless payments across the county at the end of 2024.
€405million in cash was withdrawn in Tipperary last year, all pointing to “huge” amounts of money circulating around the county.
Of the €250,000 that has been loaded onto the Love Tipperary gift cards so far, over €74,000 of it has already been redeemed in shops all over the county up to August 2025.
“The card is delivering on the shop local idea, it’s a joint effort between our shop local branding and the council branding, and it means that the council investment is directly impacting at the local level,” councillors heard.