County's shoppers spending €54m online

MAYO shoppers are spending €54 million online every year.

The difficulties facing the county's retailers was highlighted by Ballinrobe-based Councillor Michael Burke, who told a meeting of Mayo County Council that retail will 'hit a cliff' next year when subsidies for employees reduce or end.

And then there was the impact of online shopping, he said, with €2.2 billion being spent nationally online.

In Mayo, he said, €54 million is being spent for the year on online shopping. In his own town of Ballinrobe, that meant €30,000 a week was gone online.

“We need to be careful as a county going forward,” he said. “Next year will be more difficult than this.”