Dunnes Stores upstaged a major investment announcement for the Irish market this week from its main rival, Tesco, by offering details of its own expansion plans. As Tesco promised four new stores and 1,000 extra jobs over the next 12 months, Dunnes hit back with plans for a matching number of new Irish outlets ­ and l,500 additional jobs. The stores, two in Dublin and one in Cork and in Galway, will increase to 112 the group's number of outlets in Ireland north and south. According to the latest figures from Taylor Nelson Sofres, Tesco has increased its share of the Irish food market by 1.4% to 23.4%, with Dunnes at 22.7%, followed by SuperValu/Centra on 20.8% and Superquinn with 9.1%. Tesco Ireland's new fresh food depot planned for Dublin ­ to be operated by Keelings ­ will open within two years. Tesco claims to have grown its business with Irish suppliers by 22% to IR£830m since the Quinnsworth takeover. It says it is on course for its target of IR£1bn worth of business by 2002. Tesco is also to enter the Irish personal finance market. It would not say what services would be on offer or whether the plan would involve a link-up with a bank ­ Superquinn is collaborating with TSB. {{NEWS }}

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