If the Irish are in love with shopping, their passion shows no sign of losing its lustre. Nowhere is this more in evidence than in the shopping centre craze.

Up to 30 more new and refurbished shrines to consumerism are set to come on stream throughout the island in the next five years. While the main talking point this year was the opening of Dundrum Town Centre in south Dublin, the biggest of the new arrivals in 2006 will be the €400 million Whitewater Centre in Newbridge, Co Kildare.

Look out also for plans for Ireland's first Ikea store in Ballymun, north Dublin. Following Government moves to change the law to facilitate such a development, the project should go to the planning process in 2006.

The Dundrum development is significant for several reasons, not least its relentless focus on the luxury end of the market in a location where many customers are well-heeled. With copious eateries and a cinema, the aim is to foster the habit of shopping as more of a leisure activity than a weekly trawl for essential items.

Not for nothing did big British groups such as House of Fraser and Harvey Nichols choose the suburban location over the Dublin city centre. Their choice was a mark of confidence in a centre that attracted no less than a million visitors in the fortnight after it opened in March.

While the shunning of central Dublin by big retailers troubles the city fathers, city manager John Fitzgerald made a point of expressing concern about the quality of retailer moving to the south city as some international fashion chains avoid Grafton Street in favour of Henry Street and the suburbs. Fitzgerald wants property owners to consolidate their holdings in Grafton Street and its hinterland to provide international fashion chains with the space they require, although it remains to be seen whether this can be achieved without creating special planning zones in the city.

Meanwhile, the shopping centre boom shows no sign of abating. There is a clear logic in the choice of Newbridge for the Whitewater centre, whose doors open in April, as it is well-placed to capitalise on the growing commuter belt that surrounds Dublin.

This development follows the opening last November of the €200 million Scotch Hall centre in Drogheda, another commuter town. The new €150 million Marshes shopping centre is only up the road in Dundalk.

With this in mind, it is no surprise that the centres already in the field are upgrading. Thus a €300 million revamp next year of the Square in Tallaght is nothing less than an attempt by an established player to protect its patch.

New developments may increase choice, but consumers pay for them every time they put their hands in their pockets.