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THE DAYS OF long queues of cars from the Republic queuing outside border shopping centres may be gone, but travelling to Northern Ireland for bargains is still happening.
A new survey has found that almost one quarter of Irish motorists are planning a trip to Northern Ireland to do some Christmas shopping.
Food is the most popular item with 53 per cent of those who said they would be shopping in the North saying they would be buying groceries, closely followed by alcohol (40 per cent), clothes and toys.
Unsurprisingly, people in counties closest to the border are most likely to travel to the North – almost 40 per cent of people in Donegal plan to go over the border for bargains, followed closely by Cavan, Louth, Monaghan and Leitrim. In comparison, just 2 per cent of Corkonians said they would be making the long trek north.
“Of course people want to save money with purse strings tight,” said Conor Faughnan of AA Ireland, which carried out the survey.
However he warned that there can be costs in travelling too, with the average return journey from Dublin to Belfast likely to cost around €49 in fuel.
He advised motorists to be careful about overloading their cars. “Don’t forget your car has its limits and overloading the boot can cause serious damage to your axel, tyres and suspension,” he said. “The last thing you want is to have to call The AA because you’re stuck on the side of the road with all your shopping”.
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You can turn them off?
I have heard it all now. There is a disorder for everything
Pretty dependent on mine, but it’s pretty sad when you look at a group of people in a pub / restaurant and they’re all tapping away in silence together. I’m good at putting it away when I’m with friends / family
Yep, I am totally addicted to mine…it’s always by my side. If I leave the house without it I go straight back home to pick it up… Bit of a worry really!
Yup that’s me !! I panic tbh thought it was unhealthy alright ! Since I was 16 I have slept with my phone next to me !! Lol it sounds crazy when I think about it! I’m more afraid of misplacing my phone than misplacing my friend lol
So have this.
Yeah i know someone like that.. wakes up in the morning and checks email twitter and FB. dont think she checks for texts of phone calls tho.
Shouldn’t it be called iPhobia?
It was inevitable really. We live in the information age where everything and anything can be done ‘via web’.. I’m addicted to mine, but tbh I think that’s an acceptable lifestyle in this day and age.
don’t give a monkeys about my phone, can easily go a day or two without checking it and i use a 5 year old 2g iphone
Well, it’ll probably be starting school in September so at least you’ll have the day to yourself.
Hahaha @David
This disease was rampant up until the end of the last century. Lead people to vandalise public phones (a phone in a glass box at the side of the street) by ripping off the hand set ( the part of the glass box you had to speak into)
You talking about me?
Haha does NOT apply to me at all! I have the most wonderful phone HTC RHYME and I never Ever know where it is and so never hear it ringing and so do not know who called or texted me. I am so bad that sometimes I see Txts only days later lol
Ah jaysus, couldn’t you have put up a picture of an iPhone. What the hell is that yolk
my worse case was the other night my friend got a tx and straight away all I could think was where is my phone, couldnt c it in my sight so spent ages looking for it for no reason…….is there a helpline for us yet???
duh of course its ok unless you’re from the 1920′s
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