The new minimum alcohol pricing rules in the Republic will see people turn to Northern Ireland in search of cheaper drink, a Derry businessman has said.
Garvan O'Doherty, who owns several Chill off-licence close to the Derry-Donegal border, said he expects the impact to rise into 'double digits by February'.
Under the new law, introduced in Ireland on January 3, the Republic 's minimum price is 10 cent per gram of alcohol.
It means the cheapest 750ml bottle of wine will cost €7.40 (12.5% alcohol) whereas previously it cost less than €5.
Gin and vodka (40%) will cost no less than €20.71 for a 700ml bottle, 700ml of whiskey (43%) will cost at least €22.09, and a 500ml can of beer will be €1.70.
In 2018, Scotland brought in minimum unit pricing, while Wales introduced a minimum price of 50p per unit of alcohol in 2020.
In Northern Ireland, no decision has been made at Stormont on whether to follow suit.
However, the Department of Health said it would launch a consultation on the idea in "early 2022".
Mr O'Doherty - who also owns Derry's Da Vinci's hotel - told MyDerry that the impact has been minimal so far but he does expect that to increase within the next month.
He said: "January is usually a very quiet time for the drinks industry because people are drunk-out after the Christmas and New Year period. You tend to find the sales slow at this time of year anyway.
"But we would think that, at this stage, there has already been around a 3% increase in sales based on southern customers because of this new minimum pricing legislation.
"However, I would be expecting a double-digit increase over the next few months, with that starting in February."
The Derry businessman said he also welcomed the DoH's indication that consultation on minimum unit pricing in Northern Ireland could happen this year.
"We're not stupid, we expect this to happen in the north at some stage," he added. "Whilst we're getting the upside now, the north tends to get the backside.
"This legislation has already been passed in other nations within the UK and it was brought in to curb the sale of alcohol in off-licence premises' and it seems to have worked well in Scotland because of the 7pc rise in pricing, there has been a 7pc decrease in sales.
"Northern Ireland must hold this consultation. It's only fair under a democracy to do this and I would encourage them to go forward with the consultation because it's very important to canvass an opinion."
