There were early signs of Irish shoppers stocking up on hand sanitisers and bread just as official warnings about the spread of Covid-19 stepped up, according to the latest super- market spend figures.

Nothing says celebration like the pop of a bottle, a glass of fizz.

Either the people of Wexford town love Micheál Martin or they love the cameras - either way the Fianna Fáil leader got a glowing reception in the Labour stronghold this afternoon.

Supermarkets sold almost €11.2bn in groceries last year, up by €310m from 2018, as the ‘big five’ grocers maintained their grip over the market.

Spending growth at Irish supermarkets surprisingly slowed in recent weeks but the slowdown may be shortlived, according to the latest survey of the stores.

A judge has told Dunnes Stores that they would be justified in barring an 18-year-old man from shopping in their store in future after he took an unsuccessful €75,000 defamation action against them.

Grocery price inflation has eased but is still running above the official rate of inflation across the economy, a major survey suggests.

Esther N McCarthy swoons over Smeg and purrs over pompoms this week.

For an instant supper or lunch, fishcakes can be nourishing, warming and tasty. To complete a balanced meal, all it takes is some stirfried or roasted root vegetables.

Farmer's group, Beef Plan Movement says the "peaceful protests" will begin over the coming days, with stores such as Tesco, Dunnes and SuperValue among those likely to be picketed.

September is Wine Sale month with the French wine sale at DunnesStores having begun on Tuesday last and SuperValu’s French sale on Thursday. Lidl’s French sale is wisely holding off until September 30 and Aldi and O’Briens have more general sales.

Price inflation at Irish supermarkets has eased somewhat this summer but continues at a fair clip of 2.5% despite the rise in the euro against sterling, a leading survey of the big five grocers suggests.

Hammerson, the owner of shopping centres in Britain and Ireland, named insurance giant AIG executive James Lenton as its new finance chief, months after saying Timon Drakesmith would step down from the role this year.

Last minute appeals are being made to assist more than 2,000 children currently living in the Direct Provision system with back to school costs.

Violence in the North, the space race, and the infamous Chappaquiddick incident involving Edward Kennedy were in the headlines 50 years ago. All three issues were to appear in the headlines for the years and decades to come.

There is a nationwide call out for school supplies to help the more than 2,000 children currently living in the Direct Provision system.

Sandra Murphy is group event creation and production manager with Trigon Hotel Group in Cork

Dunnes Stores has lost its appeal over orders requiring it to pay €15.5m to the receivers of a company of businessman Harry Crosbie so as to comply with agreed terms of settlement of a legal dispute concerning the planned Point Village development.

Shoppers spent €2.49bn at the tills at supermarkets in the 12 weeks to mid-July, while grocery price inflation eased but remained at an elevated level of 2.8%.

August is almost upon us which spells the beginning of the end of Summer (in my head at least), so I am focusing on wines for the sunshine.

Irish investment funds IPUT and Davy have made two separate swoops on suburban Cork retail assets.

Grocery price inflation is climbing by an annual rate of 3.1%, the fastest pace since late 2014, market researcher Kantar has said.

Roz Crowley puts eight non-alcoholic beers to the taste test

The annual rate of grocery price inflation in Irish supermarkets accelerated to 2.9% in recent weeks, the highest since October 2014, according to a new survey.

Dunnes Stores has lost its Supreme Court appeal concerning the validity of laws under which the Revenue Commissioners later raised tax assessments of €36.5m on the supermarket chain concerning certain plastic bags.

New figures from Kantar show that the Irish grocery market grew by 4.2% over the 12 weeks to May 19.

A legal row between two supermarket chains over toilet roll and day cream and a price comparison campaign has ended up in the Supreme Court.

Vegan start-up Fiid aims to make the most of a flexitarian approach to food intake amid climate concerns, writes Trish Dromey.

University of Limerick is to buy a former shopping centre for the development of a City Campus.

Dunnes Stores has failed to overturn a €45,000 award against it over its closure of doors which provided an important public walk through between two Galway city shopping centres.

The prices of Irish groceries rose by an annual 2.6% over the Easter period, the fastest since August 2016.

Irish people spent €208.2 million during Easter week as the grocery market saw record spending, according to new data.

Last week’s gorgeous weather got me thinking about rosé and the ripe fruity wines of the sunny South of France.

Eggsellent selection

Aldi and Lidl gained market share as Dunnes retained its slot as the largest supermarket in a “bumper” market worth over €2.5 billion, the latest survey shows.

A €40,000 damages award to a checkout operator who suffered arm injuries after slipping on the floor of Dunnes Stores' Rathmines outlet has been overturned by the Court of Appeal.

IT’S not often you see Snapchat and sexual health education in the same sentence. But that didn’t stop social media influencer and entrepreneur James Kavanagh.

This week, a focus on Chile which is rather overdue given that Chile now holds 27% of the Irish wine market (and growing).

My first memory of making things was when my grandfather taught me how to knit.

An application by Gayle Killilea Dunne aimed at halting proceedings against her over the alleged transfer of South African properties between the Dunnes has opened before the High Court.

Cork man Padraig O’Reilly was named Irish Red Cross Volunteer of the Year 2018 this afternoon while 12-year-old Donegal native Sarah McConnellogue received the Irish Red Cross Young Volunteer of the Year Award.

A union representing 40,000 retail and bar workers wants its members to be paid a minimum of €15 per hour — more than 50% higher than the national minimum wage.

A significant capital investment is required. I cannot ignore the crumbling — and indeed bobbling — infrastructure for much longer. I’m going to have to buy some clothes.

Tesco has reported a 2.7% rise in like-for-like sales at its Irish operations for its latest financial year.