The return of domestic demand has been a key part of Ireland's economic story this year, which will have provided some welcome to relief to a retail sector still hurting from the recession. And with one of the biggest shopping weekends of the year now behind us, retailers are likely to have a good idea of just how this year has been for them.
"Certainly since last weekend we would have seen an uplift across many sectors and certainly across the country," said Lynn Drumgoole, head of commercial and communications at Retail Excellence Ireland. "Overall we're expecting Christmas trade to be up about 3-5%."
However Ms Drumgoole said that figure was to be treated with some caution, as it is not spread evenly across the country at the moment. Cities - and particularly Dublin - are doing quite well, but more provincial and rural areas are lagging behind somewhat. The hope there is that returning emigrants and city dwellers will give them a boost in the latter days of the Christmas shopping period, while people getting paid late and having no time to go online will also help their performance ahead of the big day itself.
The busy Christmas period caps off what has been quite a good year for retailers in general. "If we go back to the third quarter we would have seen it as being the strongest quarter in Q2 2007 - and that has continued into this quarter," Ms Drumgoole said, though she noted that some areas - particularly the grocery market - remain under intense pressure due to high levels of competition. "But then other areas have seen significant growth; around home appliances and men's fashion in particular," she said.
That positive momentum looks set to continue into 2016, with retailers optimistic that continued economic growth and falling unemployment will help them at the tills. Having been so badly burned by the recession the sector remains cagey, however, and is clearly keen to avoid a repeat of past mistakes. Ms Drumgoole said there was a need to ensure that all areas of the country benefit from an improved performance - while it is also critical that cost competitiveness is maintained. "The cost of doing business, insurance costs and wage costs and upward-only rent reviews are always a major challenge for many retailers," she said.
***
MORNING BRIEFS - Oil prices have risen slightly overnight, having hit eleven year lows yesterday evening. A barrel of brent crude fell to just over $36 for a time yesterday, its weakest since July 2004, but it rose again in Asian trade. The price of oil has fallen from over $100 dollars per barrel a year ago, as demand has fallen and production increased. Analysts estimate that there is a daily surplus of 1.3 million barrels of crude oil being produced each day - which shows no sign of falling in the coming months after OPEC opted to maintain its high production levels.
*** 90 jobs are set to be created in Dublin as part of the expansion of a health-focused fast food retailer. Food company Chopped is rolling out a franchise programme which will six outlets open in the coming months. This is in addition to the three wholly-owned premises it already operates, as well as a concession in Stephen's Green. Chopped was founded in 2012, and focuses on healthy and quick meals and drinks.
*** Apple has raised concerns about a draft law in Britain which would give the country's authorities access to private communications. The technology company made a submission to a parliamentary committee scrutinising the bill, in which it said that the law would weaken the security of "personal data of millions of law-abiding citizens". Apple said that by forcing companies to provide a so-called backdoor to information that authorities could use, it was also allowing criminals to gain access. The draft law also requires companies to comply with British warrants no matter where its data is based. Apple says this would, in effect, give the country's authorities jurisdiction over US and Irish locations.
