Irish splurge €57m shopping up North

IRISH shoppers spent almost €57 million in the North last year, an increase of 16% on the previous year.

Visitor numbers from the Republic to the North soared 26% as 367,000 trips were made by residents of the Republic.

Meanwhile, The Outlet at Banbridge, Co Down, said in the last year the average shopper spend was up by 13.5% while its “car counts” showed 83% more Irish registered vehicles in the car park than a year ago.