Irish retail sales up 6 percent in September

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Irish retail sales were 6 percent higher in September than a year ago in volume terms, the Central Statistics Office said on Wednesday. Excluding car sales, volumes were 3.1 higher than last year. After two weak years, the government has doubled its forecast for 2014 Irish economic growth to 4.7 percent after data showed employment was up, exports rebounding and consumer sentiment at a seven-year high. (Reporting by Conor Humphries, editing by John Stonestreet)