Minimum alcohol pricing is nigh

I still gasp when I see the price of a slab in the local shops now lol, it's a murderous increase compared to previous specials, most wouldn't have had any idea how much a multi would go up by.

You are right it was invented so people couldn't buy drinks at the market price any more.

In a way the people who live round the border should be envious of those from down the country who are saving a fortune on drink now. Border people who always got their drink in the North are still paying the same price. The only variable is the exchange rate. I remember way back getting £300 for €330 in a bureau in Dundalk. Today that would cost me €355 from the same source. People going North for Christmas might want to start getting in Sterling now. But it is a guessing game as to whether it will be dearer or cheaper in December. And watch out for shops giving a bad rate at any time.

"This is the British Pound (GBP) to Euro (EUR) exchange rate history data page for the year of 2023, covering 241 days of GBP EUR historical data.

Best exchange rate: 1.1746 EUR on 11 Jul 2023.

Average exchange rate in 2023: 1.1462 EUR.

Worst exchange rate: 1.115 EUR on 04 Feb 2023."

The cheapest gin on the First & Last website is Gordons 70 cl £14.99 (€17.53). The same bottle is €22 in Tesco in the South.

https://www.tesco.ie/groceries/en-IE/products/253879315

If a shop is selling a 70 cl bottle of gin in the South for €29.50, they are going well over the MUP. If it is for a party, I would go for the cheapest. The Lidl website is not great for checking prices. Is that where you got the gin for the equivalent of €14.99?

There are no £5 bottles of wine on the First Last website. Cheapest is £6.49 (€7.59). You can get a good selection of bottles of wine for €8 in Tesco. Again for a party I wouldn't spend a tenner on a bottle of wine.

It is nothing new for Sainsbury's Newry to have a lot of shoppers from the South. Back in 2008 it was selling more alcohol than any other Sainsbury's in the world. That was driven by FX exchange rates. People need to take the exchange rate into account.

Also by Christmas fuel prices will be higher than today, with taxes going up on 01 Sept and 31 Oct. E.g. Petrol 7 cents 01 Sept and 8 cents on 31 Oct. Judging from what is on the thread some people could benefit from doing a bit of proper shopping around in the South before hitting the road for the North.

https://www.independent.ie/business/personal-finance/theyre-10-miles-apart-but-its-boomtown-in-newry-and-gloomtown-in-dundalk/26492834.html

A Sainsbury's manager told me the chain's supermarket in Newry, only a few miles from the border, now sells more alcohol than any other Sainsbury's store in the world. Overall sales are up by 70 to 90pc this year -- largely due to the Southern invasion.

https://www.keycurrency.co.uk/gbptoeuro/

Lowest pound-to-euro rate ever

The lowest Pound to Euro rate ever was €1.02 on 30th December 2008. 

This was during the global financial crisis at which point the UK banking system was fragile and required government support to stave off collapse.

Any reports showing MUP has had any impact on alcohol related social issues or deaths?

Are you aware of how much of the costs of hospitals, courts, Gardai, prisons comes from the alcohol industry?

Last year was the first Christmas since MUP, many people were shocked when slab offers etc. which are usually around at that time of year were not available. That's not stupid, just not keeping up with our health publican-promoting legislative bollocks. You're the one calling people stupid, not me.

45mpg (6.3L/100km) seems very poor for a diesel on a long motorway trip. I can easily beat that on the motorway in a petrol car. Parkers quote 61mpg for the 2015-2020 diesel Tucson here

15x440mL cans is a sorry excuse for a 'slab'. A slab is 24x500mL

You also forgot to buy any wines or spirits

Cherry picking.

Also people have to eat whether they're at home, out in their local town, or on a trip up North. Nothing stopping people bringing sandwiches 👍️

I was comparing like with like, i.e what was advertised as on sale in ASAD and what was advertised as what was on sale in Tesco in the republic

And I was using the p/l figure to eliminate the the can size difference etc, and I did clarify that there were other options available. But the big beef about MUP from what I have read here seems to be about the increase in the cost of the multipack/slab so that's what I focused on.

I know AH is a free for all and anyone can they say that they saw or did anything without much need for verification, but I prefer to use some sort of sources where available to make a point.

As for the fuel costs, I have a Citroën with a 1.6l engine, if I put €60 diesel in it empty in Waterford there would be feck all left after a round trip to Newry, so it would be the case also with the Tucson.

All of this was done to stress the point that Waterford to Newry for a booze run is not that economically viable, there will be some savings there but far les than people think once they look beyond the headline sticker price of the product.

I live in Kerry and I've never considered a trip to NI to buy alcohol, because I know the numbers would just not add up.

Waterford would be slightly better numbers wise but still not a massive saving IMO.

As others have said this is the second Christmas on MUP coming up.

I looked for news items or analysis on last years cross border trade but there seems to be very little.

All I found related to it during the Christmas period in 2022 was this one article from the BT which is behind a paywall so I can't read more of it

If it was such a big deal in 2022 I'd have expected more coverage from the media down south.

You get stung if you don't really drink during the year and only realise at the last minute

In case anyone doesn't know, there is no Asda in Newry. The one in Portadown would be on a par with Enniskillen. The one in Kilkeel is smaller.

They have 23 pages of wines with 9 on each page. It is a shame they weren't able to squeeze in the ones for a fiver. They would likely attract custom from far away, and not have to rely on passing trade to see the deals.