Shopping in Northern Ireland

andyeire

TheHairyFairy wrote: »

Also note that the for sale sign went up on Woolworths today, I've heard that theres 50% off on everything in the shop.

I was in Woolworths today and there are very few bargains to be had most of the stuff is 10% off .

There are some cheap games and DVD's but they did'nt seem to be the latest titles.The tins of roses and sweets where cheaper in Asda.

Dooish

devil-80 wrote: »

Hi.How looks opening hours in Asda at Sunday? Do they change something before christmas?

as other posters have said can not change from 1 to 6 on a sunday due to trading law.

although the store will open at one minute past midnight on sunday night/monday morning the 21st of december for extra shopping, but beware you will not be able to buy booze untill 8am

gurramok

If one goes to the 2nd roundabout to get into Newry the back way and head down Carnlough Road, does that bring you to the shopping centres?

Is there a one-way system to prevent this?

Dooish

viking wrote: »

Went to Asda Enniskillen today myself. Saved a fortune, especially stocking up on multibuys.

Was busy like you said but not too bad, tills were busy though with most people going through with fully loaded trolleys:

with 50% more checkouts, IE the whole length of the shop, pictures like these are a thing of the past

Dooish

sterling takes another drop against the euro


http:// Sterling hits new record euro low £5, £10 and £20 note A raft of weak data has hit the pound's value The British pound has fallen to a new record low against the euro amid a grim outlook for the UK economy. Sterling declined to under 1.14 euros for the first time. It also touched a new low against a basket of currencies. Interest rates have been cut both in the UK and in the eurozone, but they remain higher in the 15-member euro currency area. The pound was also hit by new data suggesting the UK economy had shrunk by 1% in the three months to November. The pound stood at $1.4827 and at 1.1363 euros by later afternoon in London. The National Institute of Economic and Social Research indicated that the rate of output decline was "accelerating", and the institute now expects a fall of more than 1% in the last three months of the year. POUND STERLING v EURO: 10 December 2008 Pound Sterling v Euro intraday chart *All Times GMT "We have declining interest rates and there isn't really anything at the moment to provide a strong reason to buy," said currency analyst Chris Gothard at Brown Brothers Harriman. Lower interest rates make it less attractive for foreigners to hold pounds. A weaker pound is better for the UK exporters but is bad news for British holidaymakers who plan to go abroad during the Christmas season, and also makes imported goods more expensive. "The recent plethora of bad [UK] data and survey evidence relating to retail sales, unemployment, service sector activity, manufacturing output and construction activity highlight that the economy has taken a major turn for the worse," said IHS Global Insight analyst Howard Archer. He added that he expected the UK economy to decline by 2% in 2009.

Wertz

gurramok wrote: »

If one goes to the 2nd roundabout to get into Newry the back way and head down Carnlough Road, does that bring you to the shopping centres?

Is there a one-way system to prevent this?

You can turn left off the bypass at the Camlough rd (beside the train station) to get onto that r'about and get into the town that way, but to get to the Quays from that direction means having to go right through the centre of town and around into the 1 way system which can be busy and a bit tricky to follow.

You could go as far as B&Q r'about and go in the Armagh rd. This is the way I take into the town mostly. There is a 1 way system but it favours traffic coming from that direction and if you keep left with the flow of the traffic it will eventually bring you around to the Quays...the trick is being in the correct lane, which is always the left most one (and is usually signposted for Dublin).

devil-80

Is there any McDonald's in Enniskillen? or can somebody recommend good place and cheap for eating ;-) ?

milly4ever

devil-80 wrote: »

Is there any McDonald's in Enniskillen? or can somebody recommend good place and cheap for eating ;-) ?

restaurant in asda is good, not pricey obv!

ASTRACLUB

twenty8 wrote: »

Thanks for that. The Sat nav sounds like a necessity!! Just curious about the Newry traffic. Don't want the day spent sitting in traffic!!

or simply
from Dublin-follow belfast and once you reach sprucefield round about (A big high communication tower or wireless tower to say), take first exit and its meet with likes of motrway, take towards belfast and drive on, 4 Km and you take A55 outer ring road and take this road on left side,
Keep going on it untill you see IKEA on left, big building, you can;t miss it.
Remember

A55 outer ring road from M1 towards belfast
Yes, i believe if you are going first time, GPS is good, or simply follow a decent looking South reg car and you end up in ASDA, IKEA or SAINSBURY

ninebeanrows

Dionysus wrote: »

The "mainland"? What the Hell? To echo other posters: since when did a rather troublesome island between Ireland and France become a "mainland" for anybody, never mind Irish people?

Its been the mainland for many a years now.

I'm heading to the mainland just this weekend infact.

etcetc

ASTRACLUB wrote: »

Yes, i believe if you are going first time, GPS is good, or simply follow a decent looking South reg car and you end up in ASDA, IKEA or SAINSBURY

you may end up in a tesco even

Zynks

Bond-007 wrote: »

I may not be Irish.

:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

neither am I

Zynks

devil-80 wrote: »

Is there any McDonald's in Enniskillen? or can somebody recommend good place and cheap for eating ;-) ?

Help us help you by making up your mind: Do you want a good place to eat or a McDonald's?

beolight

Zynks wrote: »

Help us help you by making up your mind: Do you want a good place to eat or a McDonald's?

poster might have some children to entertain

Zynks

beolight wrote: »

poster might have some children to entertain

So do I, and I unfortunately take them there too, but that doesn't make it a good place to eat. Anyway, off topic and it was more of a joke

muffler

Confirmed in the news that Woolworths are having a closing down sale starting today. So if any of you are in a town where there is a Woolies then pop in (if you can get in that is) as there should be loads of bargains. A lot if not most of the items will be reduced by 50%

Dionysus

Bond-007 wrote: »

I may not be Irish.

Fair enough, Bond!;)

devil-80

@ Zynks Good place to eating. Anyone try the restaurant inside Erneside shopping centre?

muckety

re: restaurants eg McDonalds in Enniskillen - if you go up to the main shopping street (assuming you park in Asda or the Erneside shopping centre its just over the bridge from Ernside, a couple of mins walk) there are a couple of good chipper-type places. I had kids with me and we ate in one on the left side of the road (coming from Erneside) can't remember the name but the chips were good and the value was great! Plus the staff were so nice, one of the features of shopping / eating in Enniskillen.

TheHairyFairy

Listen if you want top class food in Enniskillen then go to Erneside, walk right through, cross the bridge and then go up the street in front of you onto the main street in the town. You will be facing the Bush Bar, its not overy expensive and the food it top dollah!

Zynks

twenty8 wrote: »

I have planned to go to IKEA this Friday morning. I have no idea of the layout of towns etc in NI.

Can anyone tell me if I am going to get stuck in the horrific traffic that everyone is talking about outside Newry? Will I avoid it? Roughly, how long should I expect to take to get from the airport to Belfast?

Thanks.

If you are driving from Kildare, here is your route:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&saddr=Kildare,+Co.+Kildare,+Ireland&daddr=54.623444,+-5.862365&hl=en&geocode=&mra=ls&sll=54.622904,-5.859103&sspn=0.005156,0.012853&ie=UTF8&z=8

You can zoom in for the details in Belfast

DonJose

muckety wrote: »

Plus the staff were so nice, one of the features of shopping / eating in Enniskillen.

Thats one thing that I always notice in the north, the people in the shops/cafes are SO NICE, not like the sulking bitter shopworkers down south. I've never had a cashier help me with my bags in the south, but they help me EVERYTIME in the north, even when I only have a few items. The customer service in the north wipes the floor with those from the south. The news just gets better €1 = £0.88

tregan

was listening the the UTV news last night and they reckon that in a few months time it will e £1 for €1 .... good for us but not for exports of course!

and poor woolies, end of an era

Meathlass

Went shopping on Monday 8th. Couldn't leave south Dublin until 9.45 and was held up on the M50 for 20 mins from Red Cow to beyond Finglas and then held up again for about 15 mins in Newry. Arrived in Banbridge outlet store at 12pm. Fairly quiet. Went to tourist centre and got a discount booklet for free and a map of centre. Lots of good shops - M and S, Gap, Nike, Puma, Oasis, Warehouse. Lots of good deals on suits and shirts. Got a top in Oasis which was originally 65 euros, reduced to 10 pounds! Spent 2.5 hours there, a lot longer than I thought we would. Definately worth a stop in my opinion.

Got to Belfast city centre for 4pm. Went to Castlecourt and the main streets. Was in a hurry by this stage so only hit a few shops. Could have spent hours in Boots alone, the price difference is unbelievable. Bought a JVC camcorder in Currys - £225 (265 euros) compared to 349 euros at home.

Stopped at Westwood Asda on way home, Easy to find with Sat Nav. Big shop but not the huge selection that I'm used to getting in my local 24 hour Tesco in Clonmel. No other southerns in shop that we saw and fairly quiet (this was 6.30pm). Staff were restocking and brought out any thing that wasn't on the shelves that we wanted. Spent 500 euros there and got several tins of sweets (£5 each), 40 bottles of wine, 10 of sparking wine (Freixnet Cave £6.99, 16,99 euros here)15 bottles of spirits, own brand vodka £7.99 for 70cl.

Stopped in Sainsburys in Sprucefield at 9pm. It was open till 10pm but all the other shops were closing at 9pm. Spent another 200 euros mostly on sweets and alcohol. Much nicer alcohol section to walk around, we were basically teh only people in the store at that time. Lots of time to browse and staff pointed out the good value wine deals for us. (Mickey Finns £4.93, compared to 13.98 euros here). Could have bought more but too tired to browse at that stage.

Finally got home to my bed at 3am and took all the next day to unload car and put stuff away. Spent 60 euros on petrol but saved that on the cost of the camcorder alone. Definately worth it.

Some things aren't cheaper eg. certain cosmetics, shampoos etc and there's good value at home now on tins of sweets. Making a list with euro prices and sterling conversions helps. You dont' end up filling the trolley just for the sake of it.

Our man in Havana

Well done on making the effort.

gazzer

Sterling is almost 89p to the euro :eek: Plenty of online shopping for me I think.

Arciphel

Great bit of propoganda in the Indo today about the dangers of shopping "Up North" ... good to see they are doing their "patriotic duty" to alert us poor republic shoppers of the warzone conditions in the North!!! :rolleyes:

Northern shopping trips hit by trolley fights and parking rage

Parking rage and trolley fights have broken out among southern shoppers heading to the North in pursuit of bargains.
Details of the increasingly feisty shopping trips were disclosed to TDs yesterday as sterling hit another record low against the euro, making the journey north even more attractive.
The pound yesterday weakened to 88.004 pence per euro, the lowest level since the single currency's debut in 1999. Sterling has slipped 16pc against the euro this year.
A Dail committee heard two women had engaged in a "punch up" in Newry over a shopping trolley that had just been emptied by another shopper into the boot of her car.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) were called to deal with what was described as a "pretty nasty row".
And Sinn Fein Louth TD Arthur Morgan said that in another unsavoury case, two men were fighting over a parking space that had just become vacant.
"So there's no pleasure in shopping in the North. There won't be too many of them coming back," he said.
He was speaking at the Oireachtas finance committee which was voting on the Government's decision to increase the higher rate of VAT by 0.5pc to 21.5pc.
The VAT rate in the North is just 15pc, due to budget cuts by the British government, and prices for food, electrical goods and other items are up to 30pc less.
Mr Morgan said the southern registered cars returning from their cross-border shopping trips were almost becoming a health and safety risk.
"The back of the car is almost trailing off the road such is the cargo they have, with food and a load of alcohol as well," he said.
Finance Minister Brian Lenihan said that while he had not called on people to do their patriotic duty by shopping at home, he had said that if they shopped locally, they would be assisting the exchequer.
He said that he had commissioned a study by the Central Statistics Office to discover just how much revenue was being lost due to cross-border shopping.

Our man in Havana

Mr Morgan said the southern registered cars returning from their cross-border shopping trips were almost becoming a health and safety risk.

Ah come on now. That's crazy.

Finance Minister Brian Lenihan said that while he had not called on people to do their patriotic duty by shopping at home, he had said that if they shopped locally, they would be assisting the exchequer.
He said that he had commissioned a study by the Central Statistics Office to discover just how much revenue was being lost due to cross-border shopping.

I would think it is more than he has ever imagined.

brettmirl

He said that he had commissioned a study by the Central Statistics Office to discover just how much revenue was being lost due to cross-border shopping.

Wonder how much that will cost! :rolleyes:

TarfHead

Arciphel wrote: »

And Sinn Fein Louth TD Arthur Morgan said that in another unsavoury case, two men were fighting over a parking space that had just become vacant. "So there's no pleasure in shopping in the North. There won't be too many of them coming back," he said. He was speaking at the Oireachtas finance committee ..

Yet another invaluable contribution to the business of the Oireachtas by Deputy Morgan :rolleyes: