One More Thing:It's hard to credit but Ireland has yet another shopping mecca.

The Athlone Towncentre opened last weekend, with 200,000 shoppers passing through its doors between its opening on Thursday and the close of business on Sunday.

Music retailer Virgin said Athlone was its busiest store in the UK and Ireland during the four days, while Marks & Spencer said it was one of its best ever openings.

Spanish fashion retailer Zara is believed to have achieved sales of €160,000 over the four days. Concerns about the economy and property market clearly aren't affecting our desire to flash the cash.

The successful opening should help Gallico Developments with its plans to offload the Towncentre to a syndicate of investors for €345 million.

Athlone is expected to attract a lot of Midlands-based shoppers who previously would have commuted to the west of Dublin for their weekly retail fix. The Blanchardstown and Liffey Valley shopping centres in Dublin are both thought to be bracing themselves for a leakage in business of up to 10 per cent.

That might represent good news for regular users of the M50 but won't provide much Christmas cheer for Green Property, which runs Blanchardstown, or Liffey Valley owner Owen O'Callaghan.