The CBRE survey showed that 55 per cent of UK-based international retailers are active in Ireland. Their lead is closely followed by Spain (51 per cent), France (49 per cent), Germany (47 per cent), Switzerland and Austria (42 per cent each). Dutch and US retailers were near the bottom of the table, 38 and 39 per cent respectively.

In its findings, CBRE pointed out that globalisation of retailing is still in its early stages and that there's still great potential for more international retailers to set up in Ireland in the coming years, despite the slowing economic prospects. Peter Levins of Bannon Commercial says that in fact, many Irish retailers are driving these international brands forward in Ireland, because they are the franchisees, running state of the art retailing operations.

He explains: "Individuals like David Jones and John Smith have driven forward the Best Menswear brand, including Tommy Hilfiger stores, and have set new benchmarks in fashion retailing. Cyril Walsh, who owns Sasha, has a nationwide retail brand that competes side by side with international brands, as with his store in the Whitewater shopping centre in Newbridge. Irish pharmacy brands, like Hickey's and McCabes, compete strongly against international competitors, like Boots and Health Express".

Ironically, says Tom Rea, a director of the Guaranteed Irish organisation, when the economy was flying, many people were keen to show their credentials by buying international brands in internationally owned outlets. Now that the brake has been put on, consumers are showing more interest in and loyalty to Irish brands. One big advantage that Irish-owned retailers have in their home market is the good ones can react very quickly to changing market trends, much more so than their international counterparts.

Cormac Kennedy, director of retail at CBRE in Dublin, adds: "Most definitely, there is still a role for Irish retailing brands." Many retailers have adapted to changing times by changing their own formats, and he adds that Irish retailers like Elverys, the sports specialists, are very well run. He also says that some Irish retailers are as keen to expand abroad as they are in their home market, citing Hughes & Hughes, the booksellers, which has expanded into Terminal 5 at Heathrow, despite the new terminal's interminable teething troubles; while Avoca is already in Northern Ireland and is looking closely at the rest of the UK.

In their home market, Kennedy believes that if Irish retailers react quickly enough to changing market trends and reinvent themselves and their outlets, there's still a good place for them.

In terms of consumer goods, Irish brands are much stronger in areas like food, while in other areas, like footwear and clothing, Irish-made products have all but disappeared. But Guaranteed Irish says that despite the huge level of choice available to Irish businesses and consumers, market research shows that the Guaranteed Irish logo is the tipping point for many people when deciding whether to buy a particular product or service. One of the most recognised logos in Ireland; in one survey, the recognition rate was 90 per cent.

The efforts to persuade people to buy Irish go back a long way. The 'Buy Irish' initiative was originally launched in 1975, but it was removed from government control in 1984 following a ruling by the European Court that individual countries were not allowed to promote their own products as being better than those produced elsewhere in the EU. Guaranteed Irish then became a not-for-profit group.

Tom Rea adds that where the quality and price are the same, Irishness still wins.

Dermott Jewell, chief executive of the Consumers' Association of Ireland, backs up the findings of Guaranteed Irish research. "Any time that we have carried out research, we've found that Irish consumers would like and even prefer to support Irish brands and products. But one of the biggest hurdles to overcome is price."

He says that another difficulty for consumers is over labelling. Jewell says that many products that consumers still buy come with green, white and orange fully-blown Irish-sounding names, but they are not Irish produce. "The industry has seen years of investment in household brand names that are long and deeply engrained in the Irish consumer psyche, but they are not what they suggest they are, Irish products."

So while international brands and retailers have made such strides in the Irish market, clearly, there's plenty of life in Irish brands and Irish retailers. Neither can be mutually exclusive, but both can live together in retail harmony.

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