Pogatchnik: Shawn Pogatchnik

pogatchnik: Shawn Pogatchnik / AP By Shawn Pogatchnik Associated Press Wed., Dec. 21, 2016 NEWRY, IRELAND The threat of Brexit is delivering a Christmas bonanza to Northern Ireland, where the thousands visiting daily from the euro-using Republic of Ireland are finding bargains driven by the battered pound, according to The Toronto Star. In the malls of Newry, a Northern Ireland town barely 5 miles 8 kilometres from the United Kingdom's only land border with a European Union partner, the surge in cross-border holiday shopping underscores how far the British currency has fallen amid anxiety over the country's promised EU exit. Traffic on the approach roads to Newry is running bumper to bumper as Christmas approaches, and the heavy presence of southern Irish shoppers is obvious as people are finding bargains driven by the battered pound. While the euro is unusually weak against the resurgent dollar, the pound is far weaker, boosting price differentials on most goods. The pound since has endured a precipitous fall and today is worth less than 1.20 euros, about 15 per cent less than a year ago. That's been the case since June, when a majority of British voters including 44 per cent of those in Northern Ireland shocked pollsters by voting to leave the world's largest economic union. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.