Declining Euro drives shoppers into RoI

Published Friday, 20 July 2012
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Northern Ireland's shoppers are venturing into the Republic once again, as the decline of the Euro means some purchases just over the border are significantly cheaper.

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A series of financial crises across the Euro-zone have seen the value of the single currency in relation to the pound drop by 10p in less than a year.

For people in Northern Ireland, deals in towns such as Letterkenny are difficult to turn down, while businesses just over the border are taking advantage of the deals.

Leonard Watson owns just one of the recently opened shops in the Donegal town.

"Letterkenny at the moment is doing a €1.25 for the pound and they have found a great difference. I was chatting to a businessman yesterday and he said his sterling business is up 300%," he told UTV.

"For a couple of years there was a lot of people crossing the border but they're staying at home now."

John Watson, from the Letterkenny Chamber of Commerce said the new low for the Euro is a boost for the town.

"These last three months the town has opened six or seven new businesses," he explained.

And billboards in Londonderry calling for shoppers to visit the town have paid off.

"We're reaping the benefits now.

There's a lot more northern cars about now, the northern number plates are definitely in the town again and it's great to see them.

John Watson

While the currency's decline is good news for some, farmers on the other side of the border are finding it affects exporters in a negative way.

"The problem is that when we go to export our product onto the world market we become less competitive," explained Ian Marshall, of the Ulster Farmers' Union.

"So markets that we were fairly comfortable in, all of a sudden we become an expensive product for the rest of the world to purchase."

If the Euro stays at its current rate, the UFU believe the European Farm Payment could drop by £25 million on last year.

© UTV News
Comments Comments
1 Comments
Ben in Dublin wrote (333 days ago):
So many northern registered cars in Dublin
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