Irish Life has doubled its investment in provincial retail property to over £20 million in the past year in the expectation of a continuing rise is rents and capital values. The additional shops acquired were in Cork, Limerick, Waterford and Wexford. Yields range between 5.5 per cent and 7 per cent, compared with under 4 per cent on Dublin's Grafton Street.

Sean O'Brien of Irish Life Investment Managers says the retail environment in regional cities and towns has improved in recent years, partly because of bypasses, ring roads and new bridges together with pedestrianisation and general upgrading of the streetscapes. One of the most recent examples of this was the pedestrianisation of High Street/ Shop Street in Galway, facilitated by the extensive bypass system around the city. The second major factor, he said, was the expansion of Irish retailers and the influx of UK multiples into the country in recent years.