Summer sun turned up the heat on retailers

One would have thought it would be difficult to find anyone with negative things to say about the weather of recent months.

Alas no! The superb summer Ireland has enjoyed obviously represents a major boon for the tourism sector, which is badly needed after some dreadful weather conditions in recent years that seriously undermined the willingness of holiday makers to stay here at home.

However, not every part of the economy is ecstatic about the good summer. A retailer in Dublin city centre pointed out to me this week that the heat wave has had a detrimental impact on city- and town-centre retail business. He described Dublin as resembling a ghost town during the heatwave, apart from package tourists who do not spend much.