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Last night in Rome 115 Cardinal Electors made a decision which surprised the world. They elected a 76 year old man from Buenos Aires in Argentina who cooks for himself as the new leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics. There was surprise in St Peter’s Square in Rome when the announcement was made with many news crews from around the world wondering who Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was.

So what do we know of the new Pope Francis and what difference will his election mean to the Catholic Church?

Joining Pat in studio – Fr Kevin O Higgins who is a Jesuit priest and who has spent 20 years in South America, also  – theologian Gina Menzies and Fr Vincent Twomey Professor Emeritus in moral theology in St Patrick’s College Maynooth.

Also joining Pat was Bishop of Ossory Seamus Brennan who had met the new pope on a number of occasions. Then a little bit later in the programme we heard from Fr Brian Darcy, Fr Michael Collins who has been reporting from Rome all week and Elaine Cobb was live from Buenos Aires on how the news was received there. And Live from St Peter's, our reporter Fergal Keane.

So will the Government initiative on mortgage arrears persuade the banks to address the reality of the crisis facing tens of thousands of home owners?

It’s taken many months of carrot and stick pressure from the Central Bank and the Government to force the banks to engage and sort out the plight of 100,000 people in arrears. However the Central Bank warned that there will be repossessions as banks clean up their books.

Personal Finance Editor of the Irish Independent Charlie Weston spoke to Pat this morning.

In Feeding Frenzy – The New Politics of Food, Paul McMahon warns that food is a lot more expensive today than it was a decade ago and does not look like getting any cheaper. We seem to be stuck in a never-ending food crisis. Everyone can see the effect in their supermarket and restaurant bills. Higher food prices squeeze our incomes, meaning there is less to spend on everything else. But for the poor of the world the impacts are more dramatic. About one in eight people now go hungry each year. Millions of people have been forced deeper into poverty. High prices have sparked food riots and demonstrations in more than thirty countries.

There is no doubt that we are entering a challenging time. Can we feed a world of 9 billion by 2050? Is the current market turmoil an early sign that the global food system will not cope? Paul McMahon the author of Feeding Frenzy – The New Politics of Food joined Pat in studio.

The book is called Feeding Frenzy – The New Politics of Food by Paul Mc Mahon. It is published byProfile Books and is priced at £12.99

Consumer item – saving on groceries with Tina Leonard

Is the amount you spend on food second only to your rent or mortgage cost?

If so, then your household is in line with the average, as CSO data puts food spend as the second highest category of Irish households’ outgoings; averaging at 16.5% of the total spend.

So, as groceries form a significant part of your budget, how can you save and get good value without compromising on quality.

Tina Leonard was here with her tips.

Don’t be loyal

There is “significant consumer inertia” in Ireland when it comes to switching in general. That’s according to the most recent research on consumer behaviour carried out by the National Consumer Agency (Feb 2013).

However, when it comes to buying groceries, the research shows that this is the area where people will switch most (20%). This 20% figure was for people switching their main grocery shop, but in addition more people are visiting more than one store, so whatever supermarkets are near you, there is always room to make savings by shopping around.

Interestingly, a study by retail think-tank Verdict Research, in association with Checkout magazine, published in January, found that the highest loyalty rates among Irish supermarket shoppers is to Aldi at 43% (a store that has gained greatly in market share in the past six months).

Next in terms of loyalty was Superquinn (34%), followed by Marks and Spencer (33%), independents (32.5%), SuperValu (28.7%), Dunnes Stores (27.2%) and lastly Tesco at 25.9%.

Despite those loyalty figures, Tesco (the market share leader) is the most visited grocery chain, followed by Lidl, Dunnes and Aldi.

+ You don’t owe the supermarket anything! So shop around.

+ Get loyalty points from all supermarkets and don’t restrict yourself to just one or even two.

+ Don’t forget your local stores / independents too

But what’s the point if supermarkets price match?

Yes, they most certainly do price match. At the most obvious level you will see signs, for example in Tesco, that alert customers to the fact that a particular product is the same price as in, for example Aldi. (Though you’d rather it said it was cheaper!).

In addition, staples like milk and bananas tend to be the same price. But more than that, price tracking surveys consistently find that supermarkets follow each other on price increases and decreases on some lines.

But, having said that, you will still find price differences, especially given there can be up to 40,000 products in somewhere like Tesco for example.

And increasingly, in a bid to win custom, supermarkets have more promotions and special offers. Remember, we are shopping around more, but we are also spending less, so supermarkets need to do something to win, and keep, your custom.

+ Some prices are the same but there are differences, especially for non-staples.

Get Special Offers

Due to a decreasing loyalty in big brands (in favour of own brand) in the past few years, there are more frequent special offers on brands. In addition as supermarkets fight to retain their market share they will have promotions on products or around a particular theme, such as St Patrick’s Day, Easter etc.

For example:

Marks & Spencer St Patrick’s week ‘Irish food offer’ includes 25% off fillet and sirloin steak and a selection of Irish vegetables.In Tesco their Irish ham fillet is half price for St Patrick’s Day and there is one third off their Tesco green cabbage. They are also selling a selection of fruit and veg for 59c each.SuperValu has a campaign running at the moment called the Great Irish Event. They have created an ‘Eat Irish Only’ menu (see online or in-store) that enables you to feed a family of four for under €100 week and all using Irish produce.Lidl is running specials on some alcohol in the run-up to St Patrick’s Day and has discounted Glensallagh sausages and rashers ranges.M&S run weekly “delicious offers”. This week it is buy two starters and two mains in the Chinese and Indian ranges and get a bottle of wine free. They are also currently selling ten quality wines for €7 each.In Tesco selected Huggies baby wipes are half price.

+ There are many more special offers and promotions every week. Find them and then buy while on promotion, but only if you will use it or if it’s food you can freeze and eat later if necessary.

+ Be aware that everyday prices do go up and down all the time. This means you need to stay alert as this week’s ‘deal’ might have been dearer last week but cheaper still the week before that!

Buy Own Brand

Just over 30% of what we put in our shopping basket is now own-brand rather than big brand, and that’s changed from around 10% a decade ago. This massive change in our habits, financial needs and perception of value and quality has meant that a) there are more own brand offerings then ever and b) the big brands are competing with offers for your custom.

The spending trend among the generations can vary, with people born in the 50s and 60s for example, tending to spend a higher percentage of their monthly budget on food and preferring big brands. This preference for big brand tends to decrease as the age group gets younger, and when we get to a young generation that has grown up with increased choice, internet research and comparison and a discount culture, they are savvy in their purchase decisions and as a result they are keen to seek value.

The own brand product may be made by well-known brands such as Odlums, Johnston Mooney & O Brien, Irish Pride, Robert Roberts or Bewleys or by Irish producers such as Irish Yogurts or Lir Chocolates; own brand products can be very good indeed.

Bear in mind that there may be various tiers i.e. value to finest / supreme and Aldi and Lidl also have premium ranges (Specially Selected and Deluxe respectively). So read the ingredients label, do the taste test and see if you like the product; because own brand usually costs less.

For example, at the moment Aldi is running a ‘Swap & Save Challenge’ campaign. They say that by swapping your regular weekly grocery shop to Aldi, “consumers can maximise their disposable income and save in the region of €3,000 a year”.

The campaign (you may have seen the TV ads) follow four women and track their grocery spend over eight weeks - four weeks shopping as usual, and four weeks shopping primarily at Aldi. The till receipts were analysed and the average saving per woman was €60 per week. (Specifically, savings were €35, €65, €70 and €80 a week). It just goes to show what can be done.

+ Check the ingredients and taste and origin if that’s a priority and switch to own-brand to spend less while retaining quality.

Other Tips

Don’t buy bottled water: We spend €270 million on bottled water every year (according to development charity Plan Ireland), and that accounts for 135 million bottles of water. With the average bottle retailing at €2, ditch the habit and save. And on World Water Day (22nd March), Plan Ireland is inviting people to donate that €2 to their water and sanitation projects in 50 countries around the world instead.

Get cashback: If you buy online or are thinking of do it via ‘cashback’ site fatcheese.ie. Then you can get €10 cash back for your first shop with Tesco and €12.50 from Superquinn with 50c and 75c cash back respectively when you continue to shop online this way.

Go to pigsback.com and their ‘coupons’ section to simply print off money-off coupons.

Sign up to loyalty schemes to get points and discount vouchers. The discount vouchers will usually be targeting to what you usually buy, but if it’s money off a big brand and you can buy own brand for less, be smart, not tempted.

This Saturday night at the National Concert Hall our own Kieran Hanrahan will introduce a very special ‘Live’ Ceilí House concert to celebrate St Patricks Day.

It will feature the cream of Irish Trad music including Seamus Begley (button accordion & vocals) / Oisin Mac Diarmada (fiddle) / Tim Edey (guitar). Also Martin Hayes & Denis Cahill plus other guests.

Seamus Begley joined Pat in studio to talk and play a set of reels and jigs.

- Seamus Begley & Oisin Mac Diarmada have released 2 duo albums during 2012. Spend much of the year touring in the US.

2012 - An Irish Christmas Soundscape

2012 - Le Cheile /

- Seamus Begley & Oisin Mac Diarmada are both members of leading Irish band Teada. Teada performs at Kilkenny TradFest on March 17th and The Presentation Centre, Enniscorthy tomorrow night March 15th.

http://www.teada.com

Pat places his bet for charity.