Heading up north to save a few euro off the Christmas bill is extremely damaging to our still fragile economy and one economist has even described it as an act of betrayal, says Arlene Harris.

It’s a new phase of a business cycle: a surge in cycling activity in Irish cities, fuelled by schemes such as Bike to Work and bike sharing City Bikes with multiple docking stations has prompted a four-year old Cork city cycles business to relocate, and expand.