Our €1.36bn US shopping spree

IRISH bargain hunters last year flocked to North America in record numbers and spent a whopping €1.36 billion as the weak dollar made designer clothes, glitzy jewellery and hi-tech gadgets too cheap to resist.

Figures yesterday showed holiday-makers made a record 685,000 trips to the US and Canada in 2007, with spending rocketing by 28%, or €296 million, on 2006 figures.

The plummeting value of the dollar against the euro has made holidays to North America cheaper than ever, prompting bargain-hunters to flock to shops across the Atlantic.