‘Many in the trade have begun to ask: how long can this be sustained?’

Sales values in the Irish retail sector grew by 4.7 per cent in the first quarter of the year compared with the same period in 2018, bolstered by mild weather in late winter and early spring. This is according to the latest Retail Monitor published last week by Retail Ireland, the Ibec group representing the sector in Ireland.

“After a rocky fourth quarter of 2018, in which trade ebbed and flowed almost by ...