[2] Marks and Spencer operates a small number of supermarket sites, including in Cork and Dublin.
The order was instituted to prevent a price war along the lines which led to the collapse of the supermarket chain H Williams in 1987, and had the effect of banning cross-subsidy and loss leaders.
In 2005, Micheal Martin, the then Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment announced that the Order would be revoked in early 2006.
[citation needed] The Eason chain of main street newsagents, stationers and booksellers is the largest in the country.
These include Next, New Look, Boots, Argos, JD, Currys, and a number of stores in the Inditex and Bestseller brand families (such as Zara, Vero Moda and Jack & Jones).
[citation needed] Out of town shopping centres, anchored by a major supermarket, have been developed in Ireland since the 1960s, with Dunnes Stores' Cornelscourt being one of the first.
[13] In Munster and Connacht, shopping centres have also emerged on the outskirts of towns and cities like Cork, Limerick, Galway, and Waterford.