Sharp rise in incidence of counterfeit notes

ALMOST 9,000 counterfeit euro notes - worth approximately €430,000 - were taken out of the Irish economy in the first six months of this year.

The figure marks a substantial rise on 2002, when 7,241 counterfeit notes, worth €277,000, were detected for the entire year.

According to statistics published by the EU police agency, Europol, 8,896 counterfeit notes were recovered by the Irish Central Bank or seized by Gardaí in the first half of 2004.