The volume of Irish retail sales (i.e. excluding price effects) increased by 11.6% in July 2015 when compared with June 2015 and there was an increase of 9.9% in the annual figure. If Motor Trades are excluded, there was an increase of 0.6% in the volume of retail sales in July 2015 when compared with June 2015 and there was an increase of 6.6% in the annual figure. Sales of alcohol have also surged according to the CSO — the statistics agency does not provide a breakdown of pub sales but we can safely say that alcohol dominated.