Newry and Mourne with a population of 87,058 lies in the south east of Northern Ireland bordering the Irish Republic and containing the southern parts of Counties Armagh and Down. The local administrative centre and largest City, Newry with a population of 24,000 has a long distinguished commercial history and is strategically located approximately 61km (35 miles) south of Belfast and 96km (65 miles) north of Dublin and benefits from substantial cross-border trade.

Newry is a frontier City located within the district of the magnificent Mourne and Slieve Gullion Mountain ranges which provide a wide range of recreational and leisure opportunities to residents and visitors alike. The area has a history of continuous settlement dating from 4000 BC, which has left it with a heritage of fine buildings including Georgian Houses, a Cathedral dating back to the 1830’s, and a Town Hall uniquely built over the Clanrye River. Strategically located on the main Al road linking the cities of Belfast and Dublin, Newry has played an important role in the socio-economic life of Ireland, thanks in no small part to the development of the Newry Canal in the mid eighteenth century.

Newry's location on the main transport axis between Belfast and Dublin means that almost three million of the Island's population is less than one hour's drive away. Here, at the interface of the Island's two jurisdictions, two distinct personalities converge, the North's flinty resolve and the ebullience of the South's Celtic dynamism. The result is a singular and youthful region encompassing all that is good about modern Ireland.