Retailers say the good mood amongst Irish Christmas shoppers has continued this week.

The Saturday before Christmas was the busiest day for retail sales in over 5 years.

Hopes of capitalising on the post-Christmas sales saw 70% of stores open their doors on St. Stephen's Day.

Retail Excellence Ireland (REI) says the increase in sales was helped by a number of factors.

These included improved consumer confidence following Budget 2013 - with budgetary interventions not as harsh
as people first thought.

It also says that the period of mild weather in the run up to the Christmas period.

Increase for most retail sectors

The body adds the fact that Christmas day fell on a Tuesday meant many consumers took off December 24th which it says "significantly increased the opportunity to shop".

Coupled with this is a "noticeable increase" in Northern Ireland consumers shopping south of the border.

In terms of the different sectors, REI says the majority of them have increased when compared with the same period in 2011.

Areas such as ladies wear, toys, books and music have seen a fall in activity.

However other large areas such as department stores, menswear, footwear, electrical and DIY have all seen an increase in the lead-up to the festive season.

A number of others - such as jewellery and telecommunications - have been unchanged in terms of sales.

Keith Rogers is the Chairman of Retail Excellence Ireland.

He says the boost in business is still continuing.

These people told us before Christmas how much they were planning to spend.