Dundalk adopts sterling in move to lure North’s shoppers

Dundalk is determined to benefit from the debt crisis.

The Louth town, where recession has left about one in five stores vacant or for sale, is erecting 3-metre billboards with a message for customers in the North 8km away reading: “Your Pound Goes Further in Dundalk.” Parking meters and shopkeepers already accept sterling.

“I’d rather it wasn’t this way,” said Paddy Malone, head of Dundalk’s chamber of commerce. “But it’s tough times, really tough. Sterling will help.”