Irish retail sales up 8.2 percent year-on-year in February

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Irish retail sales volumes grew 8.2 percent in February from the same month a year ago and were down 0.2 percent from a strong January, provisional figures from the Central Statistics Office showed on Friday. Excluding car sales, which have risen sharply in the first two months of the year after reaching their highest level since 2008 last year, volumes were up 4.8 percent on the year and up 0.7 percent month-on-month. (Reporting by Padraic Halpin; Editing by Alison Williams)