50 new jobs at Lidl

More than 50 jobs are being created by supermarket chain Lidl via new store openings in Cork, Donegal and Galway.

Through the move, the German grocer will boost its store numbers in Ireland to 140 and its workforce here to more than 3,400.

The three new stores — in Doughiska, Co Galway; Cork city centre and Letterkenny, Co Donegal — are due to open at the end of this month.

Lidl — which has more than 160 Irish suppliers — has trebled its annual spend on Irish products in the past four years and said this growth will continue.

A recent Checkout survey showed that the volume of consumers who used Lidl or Aldi for their main shop jumped from 6% between 2002-2007 to 30% from 2008 to 2013; with Tesco falling by 10% to 20% and Superquinn from 6% to 4%. OnlySuperValu, which has now had Superquinn merged with it, maintained its 19% market share.