Households across Northern Ireland face increasing pressure on the cost of living as energy price hikes have come into effect. Northern Ireland's largest provider of natural gas, SSE Airtricity, increased its prices by almost 19% on Thursday for its 200,000 domestic and small business customers. That means the annual gas bill of a typical household in the greater Belfast and west gas network areas will increase by almost £172.
The company said "unprecedented levels of volatility in global energy markets and higher wholesale gas prices" had led to the price rise. Wholesale gas prices in the UK have effectively doubled since the US and Israel began their attack on Iran. Keeping the house warm is particularly important for parents with young children and babies.
Lucy Kells is a mum of two in east Belfast on maternity leave. She said she expects the winter months to be difficult because "most people are going to have to have the heating on, especially if you've young kids in the house". "There's no escaping it - everything feels more expensive and it is more expensive." She added that, despite "budgeting proactively" and "being as careful as you can with savings and credit cards", rising bills mean people's financial situations are out of their control.
"You have to cut somewhere else and I already feel we are doing that," she said. Lucy is one of the parents who attends a weekly baby class at Woodstock Library in east Belfast. Branch manager Nuala Hyde said she has noticed more people using their free activities to combat the rising cost of living.
She said: "As well as families, we have lots of older people coming in now to keep warm." "We have people coming in who will stay all day, use the computer, have a chat and stay until closing time sometimes, so it is quite evident that we are providing an essential service at the minute when people are struggling," she added. Ryan McStay is a final year student at St Mary's University College Belfast, where he is studying to become a primary school teacher. He said he and his flatmates were "shocked" when they received a letter explaining their Firmus energy bills would be rising by 12.5%.
"It shouldn't be normalised," he told BBC News NI. Ryan said increases like this exacerbate an already serious cost of living crisis for students like him. "The price of everything is rocketing.
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