'Plastic' tenners available from 2019
Danske Bank and Bank of Ireland to bring out notes in February
Danske Bank and the Bank of Ireland are to bring out new Polymer £10 notes next year.
These will be in circulation from February.
The Danske Bank note will feature a revised main portrait of the image on its current paper counterpart – a depiction of inventor John Dunlop.
Born in Scotland in 1840, Mr Dunlop spent most of his career in Ireland and was working from an office on May Street in Belfast when he was credited with developing the first practical pneumatic tyre.
He is believed to have been inspired to do this by seeing his young son struggle to ride his tricycle across Belfast’s cobbled streets.
In a change to the old design the new polymer note will also now include an image of Mr Dunlop’s son alongside that of his father.
The note will bear the signature of the Bank’s Chief Executive, Kevin Kingston.
Meanwhile, the Bank of Ireland also intends brining out a plastic £20 note in 2020.
The tenner will retain the now familiar iconic image of The Old Bushmills Distillery in County Antrim. The Old Bushmills Distillery is the world’s oldest licensed whiskey distillery.
The current banknote design first went into circulation on April 22, 2008 to coincide with the 400th anniversary of King James 1 granting a license to the area around Bushmills to distil whiskey.
Ian Sheppard, Managing Director NI, Bank of Ireland UK: "Bank of Ireland has a rich heritage that includes issuing banknotes for more than 200 years.
"While the design remains familiar the new polymer notes are different in a number of ways. For the first time in our note history, the £10 note will have two arrangements of four raised dots in square formation, enabling physical identification for the visually impaired.
"The new notes will incorporate a clear window which can be seen from both the front and back of the notes and they will have a shiny iridescent area of ink which changes colour as you tilt the note.
"This important development in our note history will ensure our banknotes are cleaner, more durable, more environmentally friendly and, with enhanced features, more secure than ever before."