Dublin traders report €30m Christmas hit

Shoppers spent roughly €30m less in Dublin this Christmas.

While traders in the capital are expected to take as much as €1bn by January 4, business group Dublin Town has blamed big political events for denting consumer confidence.

Dublin Town CEO Richard Guiney told the Irish Independent: "While footfall has been up, spending has been lower than previous years.

"Retail hasn't been great, there's been a dip in consumer confidence.

"There's been a great deal of online shopping as we would expect but there's a bigger issue of consumer confidence here.

"There's a degree of uncertainty with the election of Donald Trump and what that will mean for Ireland, and how Brexit will affect us.

"Britain is our biggest trade partner. These are clearly issues weighing on shoppers' minds this year as they go into 2017 with some uncertainty."