I wondered about this myself. I had it figured that things in Germany, where I was living, would get slightly cheaper, and vice versa in say, Spain or Portugal.
I’m no fan of the euro, but it’s not clear that its introduction has caused prices to go up much in itself. There are a lot of anecdotes like those in this thread, but not much hard data to support the idea. According to Britain In Europe (admittedly a pro-euro pressure group):
Maybe prices are rising fast in Ireland because they are now stuck with a totally inappropriate interest rate? 
That only shows the average for the eurozone as a whole, though. Ireland’s inflation was up to 3.9 at one point last year.
Of course it’s not the euro per se that caused it, rather the rampant rounding-up of conversions (which may have taken place to a greater degree here than elsewhere) and no doubt some additional factors.
Well unjustified price rises are really what I meant by “causing prices to go up much in itself”. I can’t see how such profiteering would be sustainable in a competitive market, therefore I doubt that it was just profiteering. But yes, Ireland clearly had (has?) a nasty dose of inflation there.
Ireland’s small, isolated, with a limited range of suppliers, high import tarrifs, some alleged cartels, and a relatively apathetic consumer culture (compared to, say, the Greek population, which went on a non-buying strike due to euro inflation). A recipe for inflation.
I never convert anything back to anything anymore. I used to convert it all back into guilders (punts is a more difficult conversion and would mean less to me anyway as I had only been in Ireland less than a year before the changeover) but now that gives me heartattacks, for reasons discussed above. (9 guilders for a punnet of cherries?!) Ignorance is (relative) bliss.
In France most peole will count in euro’s but when it comes to large amounts of money (house, car, suitcase of drugs) then people revert back to Francs to get a better idea of it’s actual cost.
Also when I was in Ireland, good were priced in both currencies (Punt/Euro) for about 8-6 months or so before the old pricings were dropped. In France they still make things with the price in Francs which is AFAIK not only illegal but it makes it even harder to make the change.
I’m not sure about much of this. At the moment, Ireland’s inflation rate is below the European average. Ireland is actually a very open economy, with little in the way of tariffs. We are enormously dependent on foreign investment and creating barriers to trade would be highly counter-productive. I’d agree that cartels, at least on a local level, are a problem but the Competition Authority is very active nowadays and hopefully this will be addressed. I’d also agree that we’re relatively apathetic as consumers.
All the same, the key reason for the temporary elevation in Ireland’s rate of inflation was simple supply and demand. It was a result of a growing economy, rising wage rates, low interest rates, massive increases in consumer borrowing etc. In fact, a common theme for economic papers for the preceding five or six years was “how can Ireland have such a rapidly growing economy without succumbing to inflationary pressures?”.
Nonetheless, there was definitely some profiteering from the changeover.
I think in euros now, except when comparing the cost of something to pre-changeover levels. House prices are an abvious candidate for this, particularly as we bought our house before the changeover.
Well I guess I might be basing my opinion on too small a sample. Off the top of my head there’s wine and beer - prices are up to double those of the UK, despite the euro/sterling exchange rate, even though the UK is in a similar situation regarding imports. Then there’s the notorious Vehicle Registration Tax (VRT) import tariff. And I was in SpecSavers the other day and they had the Dutch price and the Irish price, both in euro. The Irish price was 25% higher. According to the manager this is due both to tariffs and industry regulation requiring qualified opticians to be present during sale of spectacles (and as a result of my whining to him I got a 20% discount). Petrol’s still cheaper than the UK, though.
And I can’t spell “tariff”.
I’m not disputing that Ireland is an expensive place to live and visit, just that tariffs have little enough to do with it. The VRT is an pointed exception and you’re absolutely right about that. There are some cartels, particularly in the professions, and these are being closely examined at the moment. There is no doubt that entry into the legal profession, dentistry, opticians, pharmacy etc. is very tightly controlled by the professional bodies and this reults in higher prices. I think you’ll struggle to find actual tariffs anywhere, which are more or less outlawed between EU member states. Of course, our participation in the CAP, fisheries agreements and other protectionist measures mandated by the wider EU and aimed at the rest of the world result in tariffs but no more than any other member state.
Fair 'nuff.