Travelling North for Christmas shopping 'a real negative for Irish retailers'

The Government Chief Whip has said Irish retailers will suffer if shoppers choose to go to Northern Ireland to do their Christmas shopping.

Since the Brexit vote, Sterling has taken a slump and consumers are cashing in on the weak exchange rate to Euro.

A Red C poll in the Sunday Business Post shows that one third of people are planning a shopping trip to the North in the lead-up to the festive period.

This figure increases to 56% in the cases of those living in border counties.

Fine Gael TD Regina Doherty said that although consumers may benefit in the short term, the decreasing value of Sterling is bad news for retailers south of the border.

She said: "This is a very real impact, a real negative to our retail industry that has struggled for years and are only getting back on track."