The business lobby group ISME have made a plea to shoppers to help keep 'a vibrant buzz' on their local main street this Christmas.

The group say every €1 spent locally on their Christmas shop could generate up to €4 in their community.

Not only does shopping locally bring spending back into the community but it also protects jobs in towns and villages.

ISME say they would like to see Irish shoppers devote some of their Christmas shopping to local bricks-and-mortar or ‘Irish’ online stores.

Neil McDonnell, Chief Executive at ISME, said: “We are hoping that Irish consumers will bring some Christmas cheer to Irish retailers this year and decide to shop locally. 

"By consciously choosing to buy locally, even a portion of our purchases can have a meaningful impact, as each euro spent locally can generate two, three, or even four times its value in community wealth.

"This Christmas, we must take the opportunity to support local retailers and hospitality providers.

"Making these choices can even lead to time, money, and effort being saved and can even reduce our environmental footprint by keeping some of our festive spending close to home”

To help people make local choices this Christmas, ISME has created two online portals – one for consumers and one for businesses.

Consumers can browse a variety of categories such as activities and entertainment, fashion, food and drink, retail, and Irish breaks which offers gift ideas for Christmas and showcases local businesses.

For businesses, they can access a directory of B2B products and services such as corporate gifts, legal and financial services, IT and marketing, transport and training.