The owner of a shop that was closed for a week, after being looted and damaged during last month's riots in Dublin, has said trade in the Asics Store on O'Connell Street is up on this time last year.
The Asics Store was looted and damaged during the riots, which took place on the eve of Black Friday, which is typically seen as a big driver of pre-Christmas sales.
Paul Gallagher said: "We were looted on a Thursday, we came back from London (where he was attending an award ceremony) on Friday and the following Friday we were open within a week, it shows great resilience and tenacity on the part of all of our staff."
In the immediate aftermath of the riots, he said that business was slow in the stores that remained open and staff were scared.
"We were trading with the Skechers Store in Henry Street and it was very quiet and a lot of our staff didn't come into work, particularly non-Irish nationals, not only in Henry Street, but the staff didn't come into work in Blanchardstown, Liffey Valley, Swords, Tallaght, all over Dublin where we've (Skecher) stores," he said, "and I really felt sorry for our staff ... that they were feeling unsafe and afraid to go into work."
"Trade is now back, we are up on last year for December," he said, estimating that they should see "double digit growth".
As well as praising staff, Mr Gallagher praised Dublin's "resilient" customers for the recent bounce in sales.
"People have said 'right we're going to town and you (rioters) are not going to dictate on what terms we live and we shop' and I think that is a great sign of the Irish spirit," Mr Gallagher said.
Nevertheless, Mr Gallagher said that he remained concerned about "anti-social behaviour and shoplifting" in "parts of inner-city Dublin".
While he welcomed the increased presence of gardaí on the streets of the capital he said that "the justice system needs to be tougher".
"The gardaí are doing a lot but they must find it very frustrating, because they are arresting them, they know who they are, they are bringing them before the courts and the courts are leaving them go," Mr Gallagher said.
"There are no consequences for shoplifting, it's soft touch," he said, describing it as "a revolving door system".
