Retail Ireland: Retail sales 'could have been worse'

Retail Ireland, the IBEC group that represents the retail sector, has said that new CSO retail sales figures for November were not as bad as feared.

Retail Ireland Director Torlach Denihan said: "Core retail sales (excluding cars and bars) held up reasonably well in November despite the extraordinary developments when Ireland sought support from the IMF and EU. There may be some grounds to hope that the retail sector is close to the bottom.