Irish retail sales rise 0.6 percent month on month in December

Irish retail sales rose 0.6 percent in December to stand 3 percent higher on the year, provisional figures from the Central Statistics Office showed on Tuesday.

Ireland's economy is showing signs of life after growing more than twice as fast as expected in the third quarter, and retail spending tentatively recovered in the second half of 2013 following a disappointing start to the year.

After becoming the first euro zone member to complete a bailout programme last year, Ireland is counting on a 1.8 percent lift in consumer spending this year to spur on economic growth of 2 percent for 2014 as a whole.