Why does B&Q keep trying to sell mole repellent to Northern Ireland?

There are no moles in Ireland.

I know, ignorant Brits like me find that amazing, but it's true. It's to do with the history of how the land was formed.

As a result, garden centres in the Republic of Ireland have a few products missing: they don't stock mole repellent. Obviously, nobody needs to buy it.

However, Northern Ireland is legally part of the UK, so almost all shops will file their Northern Ireland stores under UK management. This doesn't matter too much for the major supermarkets who allow each store to stock the right produce for the local market, but for some reason B&Q really seems to struggle.

I've been doing some research and so far I've had it confirmed that B&Q have been told they can stop selling mole repellent in their Northern Irish stores in:

1998 (when it was reported by BBC Northern Ireland)

2008 (when it was reported by BBC national news)

2012

2014

Take a look at some of the tweets below. I'm also on the look-out for other examples of stores getting their local produce horrendously wrong - I'm hearing rumours of Tesco Ireland trying to sell GB car stickers?

B&Q knows there's no moles in Ireland right? pic.twitter.com/0X4J4RoQ — Dónal Lyons (@DonalLyons) March 29, 2012

Mole repellent is half-price in @BandQ in Derry, Ireland; but there's a catch. There are NO moles in Ireland. pic.twitter.com/7RPgXhuJzm — Andrew Quinn (@AndrewEQuinn) July 14, 2014

B&Q Lisburn stock Mole Repellant but there are NO moles in Ireland. BBC NI reported this in '98 but here we go again! pic.twitter.com/XK9dDDGtRp — Beech Grove Nursery (@beech_grove) August 31, 2014