There were 79,000 visits from the UK to Sherry FitzGerald’s website (sherryfitz.ie) this year, up 20 per cent on last year.

And the estate agent is returning the favour by visiting the UK with details of properties for sale. It is holding a sales event in the Copthorne Tara Hotel in Kensington, London on March 1st.

This is the third year the agent has set up its stall in London, where it has found "the main interest coming from Irish living in the UK and abroad looking to return to Ireland", says Mary Dillon, head of Sherry FitzGerald Countrywide.

“What was in the recent past unaffordable is now well within their reach.”

Eight per cent of its website's traffic comes from the UK, and the 32,000 hits from the Greater London area this year mark a 40 per cent increase on 2012.

“While our agents receive regular enquiries from potential UK buyers, this [event] is literally bringing Irish property to their doorsteps,” says Dillon.