The bottom line

One More Thing:It seems that Sir Terry Leahy's plan to sell some of Tesco's extensive property portfolio and return £3 billion worth of cash to shareholders will not affect any of its sites here.

"We have no plans in that regard," Tesco Ireland boss Tony Keohane told us. "It's not part of our current plans. We buy land to build shops."

Tesco has 95 outlets here, the vast majority of which are company-owned. It also owns three large distribution centres.

In spite of the recent doom and gloom about the property market here, commercial land continues to achieve premium prices. It surely won't be long before Leahy decides to unlock some of this value from his Irish properties.