Irish people spent €208.2 million during Easter week as the grocery market saw record spending, according to new data.
Irish shoppers forked out a total of €44m on Easter eggs in the lead up to Easter Sunday with a further €29m spent on fresh lamb.
The latest figures from Kantar show that the grocery sector grew by 4.1% in the 12 weeks to April 21.
"With both the St Patrick’s Day Bank Holiday and the Easter weekend giving shoppers cause for celebration over the past 12 weeks, there have been plenty of excuses for people to get in store and spend," said Douglas Faughnan, consumer insight director at Kantar .
"Shopper visits to the major retailers grew by 1.3% on last year, yielding an additional €28.7 million of value."
Dunnes continues its reign as the nation's largest grocer for the eighth consecutive period while SuperValu returns to growth.
Dunnes posted sales growth of 6.1% which marks the highest increase the retailer has seen since November 2016.
"Dunnes has continued to push towards premium items through its Simply Better collection and partnerships with specialists like James Whelan Butchers and Sheridans Cheesemongers," said Mr Faughnan.
"Encouragingly for Dunnes, shoppers appear to be happy to spend more in-store.
"The average price paid at the retailer is up 1.9% on last year, generating an extra €10 million in sales."
Tesco saw growth of 2.8% while Aldi and Lidl continue to perform strongly in Dublin.
“Growth of 18% for Aldi in the Connaught and Ulster region was the strongest increase recorded by any retailer in any one region, while Lidl’s 13% growth in Munster makes it the fastest growing grocer in the southern provinces," said Mr Faughnan.
