As the fourth largest city in Northern Ireland, Newry definitely commands quite a presence among its peers. Appropriately enough, it is situated just far enough from its larger neighbours to not be swept up by their outlying areas and instead is able to keep an identity all its own. It is fifty five kilometers away from Belfast and sixty seven kilometers away from Dublin. All the same, three large cities within seventy miles of one another certainly makes for an enormous, crowded, area and this conurbation is just that. Fortunately, the city dwellers of Newry and its bigger brothers wouldn't have it any other way.
Not surprisingly, Newry grew into prominence because of its proximity to Belfast and Dublin and not in spite of it. What is interesting, though, is the fact that Newry is far and away one of the most prosperous towns in both Northern Ireland and Ireland as a whole. A few short years ago Newry made waves for having the highest price increases for homes out of the entire United Kingdom. Over the course of a decade, from 1996 to 2006, Newry's houses increased in price to the tune of an astonishing three hundred and seventy one percent. At any rate, the entire town seems to have been one of the most successful in recent years in nearly every way. Its unemployment rate in 1991 was a staggering twenty six percent but, even during the global recession, Newry now has an incredibly healthy unemployment rate of under two percent.
That the global recession didn't harm Newry's ever-increasing fortunes is curious enough but the truth of the matter is that it has in fact helped Newry to gain even more income! This is largely due to the fact that Newry is one of the more southern cities in Northern Ireland and it is very close to the border of the Republic of Ireland. For varying reasons the global financial crisis hit the Republic of Ireland rather hard. The Republic raised prices on many items and its currency was further harmed by the strength of the Euro. At any rate, the low prices of goods in many of Newry's shops were too good to resist and it created a massive influx of citizens from the Republic of Ireland crossing the border to shop at Newry. It is said that the people crossing the border saved over thirty percent on equivalent goods on the other side and, though many in the Republic call these people traitors and unpatriotic, it is hard to fault somebody who is already dealing with a recession. Either way, the mass crossing of the border did cause some problems, most notably the huge amounts of traffic that conglomerated on the roads leading back to the Republic. This event has largely died down but at its peak it was so prevalent that it even inspired the term "the Newry effect" to describe the situation and any like it. Newry is a town filled with interesting stories, though, and this is just one of them. To truly appreciate this wealthy and lovable town you need to do what the people of the Republic of Ireland have done: Visit frequently.
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