THE voice coming down the phone line from New York is probably what one would expect the voice of the rock memorabilia-theme Hard Rock Cafe Ltd to sound like, if a restaurant chain could have a voice.

It is laid-back, has a slightly retro tendency to end each sentence with the word "man" and belongs to Jonathan Grevatt, spokesman for the restaurant group.

According to at least one Dublin estate agent, the Hard Rock Cafe Ltd, which boasts a chain of restaurants, is "actively seeking" a premises in Dublin. Officially, the group says there are no firm plans to bring a restaurant to Dublin as yet but that the chain is "definitely considering" a Dublin branch.

Last autumn, Hard Rock was one of the contenders for a large new restaurant which is to open later this year in an extension to the St Stephen's Green Shopping Centre. Planet Hollywood was chosen to operate the 15,000-square-foot premises at a rent of £360,000 per annum. The restaurant chain, which was represented by Dublin agent Scan Davin, is understood to be planning to spend around $5 million on fitting out the restaurant.

Mr Grevatt says Hard Rock Cafe has a "massive expansion phase" under way, which will see the group opening a new restaurant every month until the Millennium. "It is possible we are looking at Dublin," be says. "It is a place we would consider".

In fact, Dublin is a place which a lot of restaurateurs appear to have seriously considered, given the choice of premises now available to diners in the city.

Between 1994 and 1996, it is estimated that about 300 new restaurants opened nationwide, bringing the total number up to around 1,400, excluding fast-food operations. Of these, about 450 are in Dublin city or the greater Dublin area, which has enjoyed a 10 to 15 per cent growth in the number of restaurants over the past five years.

The Temple Bar area in particular has attracted considerable restaurant development. In 1991, prior to the commencement of development by Temple Bar Properties, there were about 12 restaurants in the area. There are now 47, nine of which have opened since June, 1996.

According to Henry O'Neill, chief executive of the Irish Restaurants Association, the growth in the restaurant trade is not as dramatic as it might initially appear to be.

"There aren't that many new establishments that have come on board," says Mr O'Neill. Instead, premises which might have closed when the economy was less favourable have re-opened under new management or have been refurbished.

The apparent boom in the restaurant trade can also be attributed to the fact that the failure rate for new restaurants 10 years ago was far higher than it is now. In 1986, a new restaurant might have had a 50/50 chance of survival. Now, with the country's enhanced economic status and the demands of a younger dining population, the fail tire rate has been reduced considerably.

"Provided the economic situation remains as buoyant as it is, they will survive," says Mr O'Neill. "Unfortunately, we are the front line in products that take a backward turn when the economy is on the downturn."

The trend towards large, "theme" restaurants for family dining and parties - the type pioneered by the Hard Rock Cafe - is a more recent offshoot of the larger development of the restaurant trade in the city. The arrival of the Chicago Pizza Pie Factory in the St Stephen's Green Centre in the late 1980s was the first indication of a change in direction. More recently, two large restaurants have opened in Temple Bar - Thunder Road in 1995 and its new competitor, Luigi Malone's, earlier this year.

Thunder Road, noisy and brash with 9,000 square feet, is probably the first restaurant in the city to allow wholesale dancing on tables by diners. According to David Ryan, area manager for Blake's and Thunder Road, Thunder Road offers a "pub, nightclub and restaurant", all in one.

"Restaurants are going that way," he says, pointing to the increase in theme restaurants in the UK. "You can go in, have a good party. You have a party atmosphere and a good night out, but you still have good food."

When Planet Hollywood arrives in Dublin later this year, the battle for the hearts, palates and wallets of the family and party diner will begin in earnest. Full details of the Planet Hollywood restaurant - the movie-theme chain which boasts Sylvester Stallone and Bruce Willis among its celebrity "backers" - will be confirmed by the group within the coming weeks.

"You have to realise that our dining population is a very young one and still in its developing stages," says Mr O'Neill. "New concepts and new trends will inevitably attract a clientele."

"There has been strong interest from a couple of UK-based companies looking at bringing over their own branded concepts," says Conor Kennedy of Jones Lang Wootton. "I think we are going to be looking at more of those in the future.

Jones Lang Wootton is the agent for 3,000 square feet adjacent to the St Stephen's Green Centre which might be used for such a development although in general, as Mr Kennedy puts it, there are few available sites in the city centre for companies seeking to open concept restaurants of this kind.

An alternative option may tie in attaching restaurants to large suburban developments, particularly those with extensive shopping or leisure facilities already in place. The Green Property Company has a site of up to two acres in Blanchardstown, near the new shopping centre, which it is considering as a possible site for a family restaurant.

"We have a lot of land in Blanchardstown," says Conor Byrne of the Green Property Company, which is developing the Blanchardstown Retail Park beside the Blanchardstown Town Centre. "We are looking to develop a pub which may have that sort of family restaurant. We haven't really got around to marketing that yet. If we had a bar with a family restaurant or a bar with a family restaurant beside it, then it would fit in well with leisure shopping."

"Everyone wants to open up a restaurant," says Michael Finnegan of Lisney, but he points out that there are problems associated with larger restaurants, particularly in the city centre. "To run a thing like that you need a big square footage, at least 2,000 square feet," he says.

City-centre premises that large are hard to come by. Planning permission is also likely to take three to four months and a lot of land-lords may not be willing to wait that long. Add fire certificates and refurbishment costs, and a large restaurant development is going to require a lot of time, space and money.

Apart from its young population with the money to spend on leisure dining, Dublin and the Irish market in general is similar enough to the UK market to enable the easy transfer of franchises and concepts. The licensing laws and laws of operation are similar and there is no language barrier.

"They find it easy to come into the Irish market," says Henry O'Neill, "but the one thing we don't have is the population of London. I'm not sure that Dublin can sustain the kind of large development that London has experienced," says Henry O'Neill.

"We don't have that large population and we certainly don't have the dining population. Our dining population is still a new one. For the large outlets that come into Dublin, there will be a question mark over whether or not they can survive."