THE STERLING differential is the main reason why consumers shop in the North, Tánaiste Mary Coughlan said yesterday.
Speaking at the National Women’s Enterprise Day conference in Mullingar, Co Westmeath, the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment described the sterling differential as “an enticement”. She had been “criticised profusely” last year for suggesting the difference between sterling and excise when buying alcohol was the main reason for cross-Border shopping traffic but she insisted: “This is actually true and the figures will show that.”
People who shop in the North “have the wherewithal to travel” but are “not necessarily the people who don’t have the financial acumen to make other choices”.
She accepted that cross-Border shopping trips have consequences which Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan had been made aware of.
“We’ve discussed it and all the Border TDs have discussed it with him to try and see what we can do to reduce that impact,” she said.
