There is growing speculation in the retail trade that the British supermarket giant Sainsbury may finally enter the Irish market through the acquisition of part or all of Roches Stores' grocery business.

Sainsbury has already set up operations in Northern Ireland and is understood to be keen to expand into the Republic, where Tesco has already acquired Quinnsworth/ Crazy Prices and where Safeway is also looking to establish a presence.

One director of the family-controlled Roches Stores, Mr Raymond Roche, declined to make any comment on the speculation, which focused specifically on the grocery side of the business and excluded Roches' drapery business.

Even within the Roches' grocery business, some sources have doubted whether a buyer like Sainsbury would be interested in Roches' town centre locations.

Roches has nine stores in Ireland - one in Henry Street in Dublin's city centre and three others in Dublin suburbs in the Blanchardstown Town Centre, The Square in Tallaght and in Blackrock.

The other stores are in Patrick Street in Cork city centre and the Wilton Shopping Centre in Cork's western suburbs, O'Connell Street in Limerick, Eyre Square in Galway and City Square in Waterford.

If Sainsbury does enter the Irish market, it will be the latest in a series of British retailers who have either bought Irish retailers or set up new operations in the big shopping centres that have sprouted on the periphery of the major urban locations. Apart from Tesco's takeover of Quinnsworth - which was in reality a change of one British owner for another, Safeway is looking for sites for up to 10 superstores in the Republic.