evidence: The North’s economy was not unaffected by this development. It also coincided with a detente between the two during this period. Starting with the Anglo-Irish Agreement in 1985 and then the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, political relations improved and translated into economic gains. Since the early 1990s there has been a steady growth in cross-border activities only partly slowed by the credit crisis of 2007-08. There have also been increases in tourism, investment and travel. Around 30,000 people cross the border daily for work purposes and approximately 177,000 lorries and 250,000 vans cross each month. Trade is now valued at around £3 billion a year. [...] For the 1.81m people in the North and the 4.78m people in the Republic, this cross-border trade is huge. Of particular importance is the agricultural processing industry with supply chains crossing the border several times before final production.