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It remains to be seen whether new minimum price rules for alcohol sold in off licences and supermarkets south of the border will see a resurgence of cross border shopping in Newry or a renewed interest in some 'extra' duty free.
Section 11 of the Public Health (Alcohol) Act on Minimum Unit Pricing was brought into law in the Republic on Tuesday 4 January and it is designed to reduce the harms caused by the misuse of alcohol and to delay the initiation of alcohol consumption by children and young people.
Price differences in the early 1980's led to long queues outside Newry off-sales but whether the latest decision from the Irish Government has the same effect is anyones guess.
The minimum price per unit of alcohol has been set at €0.10. The move will mostly effect high alcohol content drinks sold in retail outlets. It shouldn't affect pubs etc because these already charge over €0.10 per unit.
In practice it means a 500ml can of regular beer or stout will cost at least €1.70/ £1.39 while the least you will pay for a bottle of wine will be close to €8/ £6.56. Spirits are also affected and a 70cl bottle will cost around €22/ £18. The real differences will come with multipacks which until the legislation was changed meant that you could buy 12 or 24 cans of beer south of the border at substantially reduced price compared to buying them singly. That all changed this week and a 24 pack of 500ml beer here can be bought for around £24 here while the same product across the border would be a minimum of £33!
Of course the devil is in the detail and finding like for like can be a tricky business. A 24 pack of your favourite beer could be 440ml here and 500ml in the south making it hard to compare.
Plans are underway here also for the Stormont Executive to introduce minimum pricing for alcohol but they are at a very early stage of development and it may be years before they are enacted.
