Christmas cross-border trade stays healthy in Newry

For years, Newry has been the focus of stories about cross-border trade.

This phenomenon peaked in and around 2010, as exchange rates, price differentials and difficulties in the Republic of Ireland's economy encouraged tens of thousands of shoppers to cross the border, creating four-mile long tailbacks in the process.

Things have settled down since then, but a walk through any of the city centre car parks highlights that the city continues to draw a healthy number of Louth, Dublin and Monaghan registered licence plates.

Cathal Austin is the manager of the Quays Shopping centre.

He says southern trade remains important but other measures are required to help the High Street thrive.

"Trade is definitely up on last year," he said.

"We are still struggling to catch up on 2019 levels, but the Spend Local card has definitely helped generate extra footfall for us."

The £100 Spend Local card scheme was set up to encourage consumer spending and help businesses badly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Mr Austin said the cards are "a start but we'd like to see more support from the executive for the High Street".

"I don't think we've seen big queues of southern shoppers from 2010-2011, but we do have the steady influx at this time of the year," he said.

"It's what we would expect as a cross-border shopping destination - that 40% of our catchment area is in the Republic and our numbers would reflect that."

Across the Dublin Road in the Buttercrane Centre, its manager Peter Murray tells a similar story.

"Trade so far has been strong," he said.

"We had a great November and that carried on into early December.

"A lot of that was on the back of the additional money put into the economy by the High Street voucher.

"That has been a real fillip."

Mr Murray added: "The level of cross-border business has been in keeping with what we saw in 2019.

"We haven't seen any huge increase in that.

"We certainly saw more southern visitors over the summer months when they were here for a holiday perspective."

Across Newry Canal and the Clarnrye River, Gemma Murphy, of Jack Murphy Jewellers on Hill Street, is noticing changing trends.

"The Spend Local cards have been very successful - both people spending them on themselves and on others," she said.

"For us, we are always busy this time of year.

"We would always have people travelling from the south to come here to get engaged, but we are finding an increase in them shopping online.

"I don't know if that's because of Covid, but they are using our website more."

Back across the bridges, Neil Keenan, of Bogart Menswear, said hundreds of Spend Local cards have been spent in store.

"The Spend Local cards have really brought people out," he said.

"A lot of people have been in spending them.

"We have a lot of people coming in from across the border, especially Louth and Dundalk.

"People we haven't seen before coming in and getting some bits and pieces."

Of the five shoppers BBC News NI spoke to in the city centre, two were from the Republic of Ireland. One had travelled for groceries and the other for presents.

Both of the shoppers said prices were better than in comparable shops south of the border.

Two of the shoppers from Northern Ireland said they had been using their Spend Local cards to buy treats - one for themselves and one for their husband.

The final shopper said she was starting to feel the pinch of inflation whereby goods she bought last Christmas were now more expensive.

The issues of exchange rates, travel restrictions, inflation and government support are likely to continue playing a role, not just in Newry, but on every High Street in the year ahead.

But a good Christmas will give some cheer to traders who, as ever, are in business for the long haul.