More than 90 per cent of the value of Irish notes and 60 per cent of the value of coins has been returned to the Central Bank as part of the euro changeover, said Mr Philip Hamell, chairman of the Euro Changeover Board of Ireland, at the presentation of the board's final annual report yesterday.

The changeover to cash transactions in euro was virtually complete within eight days of the introduction of the currency, according to the annual report.

"In a word, it went brilliantly," said Mr Hamell.

"I'm very relieved and grateful to the people who helped us and very thankful it worked so well." He said the board had delivered on its two basic tasks - to oversee the detailed implementation of the changeover to the euro and to provide public information.

More than €16 million was invested by the board to ensure that the changeover was implemented smoothly, said the report, which covers the period from May 1st, 2001 to the end of the changeover on February 9th.

Congratulating the board on the success of the campaign, the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, said the changeover in Ireland had been praised by the European Commission as among the best in the EU.

Mr Hamell said the distribution of the euro handbook and currency converter to every household in the country, combined with heavy advertising, was key to the success of the changeover.

"We put a huge effort into empowering every household with the handbook and electronic converter," he said.

"The unit of currency here was also very much closer to the value of the euro than the currencies in other member-states, so perhaps we had less mental adjustment to make. Perhaps, because we are a small country, it is easier to reach everybody and we could count on the co-operation of a large number of organisations."

The board has been dissolved but the euro website will continue.