The three months to the end of June Irish supermarkets enjoyed one of their biggest income bounces in the last eight years - as grocers' takings increased by 2.6%.

The cost of the weekly shop is rising - the average price of groceries increased by 1.3% - that's more than twice the general rate of inflation.

This is the fifth consecutive quarter of food and household goods becoming more expensive.

A Euro 2016 spending bounce helped the volume of goods shifted to grow by 1.3%.

Matt Clark, managing director of Nielsen Ireland said the increase in goods sold reflects an upturn in the Irish economy:

"This is being driven by positive consumer confidence which is good news for retailers, who are witnessing some of the best growth numbers in Europe today," he commented.

In the 21 European countries polled by Nielsen Greece registered the sharpest decline at -7.2% while the strongest growth was in Turkey where takings jumped by 8.9%.

The average price increase across the continent was 0.8%.

UK grocers saw their earnings decline by 2.4% suggesting that the market tightened in the wake of the Brexit vote.