The latest chapter in a controversy over the provision of new supermarkets in smaller towns unfolds tonight when Kerry county councillors decide whether to give the go-ahead to Tesco Ireland's plan to build a new outlet in Castleisland.
Tesco says its plans to build new stores around the State are being frustrated by opposition from the independent retailers' group RGDATA and local shop owners. It claims the resulting lack of competition is forcing consumers to pay higher prices.
However, RGDATA says the large multiples are failing to follow retail planning guidelines and instead placing new ventures on out-of-town greenfield sites rather than in town centres. It claims this trend is contributing to the decline of historic town cores and depriving non-car owners of access to shops.
"They should play by the rules that seek to maintain the vibrancy of town centres," says RGDATA chief executive Tara Buckley.
"Plenty of towns have derelict sites such as old marts that would be suitable for new stores, but they don't want that; instead, they want to build their boxes on greenfield sites."
Tesco's plans to build a new store in Listowel, also in north Kerry, received planning permission last year, but this was appealed to An Bord Pleanála by RGDATA and the Garvey Group, which operates a chain of SuperValu stores in the area.
The Garvey Group has circulated councillors with material opposing Tesco's plan for Castleisland, which requires a material contravention of the area plan because the site is currently zoned residential.
It says the new store would cause town-centre shops to close and lay off staff as existing local business operators cannot compete with the scale of the superstores.
"The Irish market is not big enough to support both out-of-town superstores and existing local and high street shopping. Consumers can have one or the other - not both. Convenient local shopping could become a thing of the past."
In Britain, it says, 42 per cent of villages are without a store, while in France, a fund has been set up to preserve a few shops in small towns.
RGDATA has also objected to the proposal, saying it is a significant and material contravention of the area plan.
However, Tesco says its planned store would be just 400 metres from the town, while Garvey's SuperValu is 300 metres from the centre. The €3 million project would create 80 jobs and enjoys strong local support.
In Listowel, 300 people last week signed a book of support for Tesco's planned store. The company claims its prices would be 11 per cent cheaper than in Garvey's SuperValu, and says prices generally have dropped in towns such as Tipperary or Newcastle West where it has opened stores.
Last year, in a similar controversy in Kanturk, Co Cork, An Bord Pleanála rejected Tesco's plans for a new store. Other disputes have flared in Cashel and Loughrea.
In Drogheda, Co Louth, An Bord Pleanála turned down Lidl's application to build a store even though local residents collected 13,000 signatures supporting it.