Doesn’t An Taisce take the biscuit? As the nation tightens its belts in preparation for a recession, the national trust has declared war on Lidl. The German retailer wants to set up shop in a building formerly inhabited by Habitat, the British high-street furnishing store, which vacated a prime location near Grafton Street in May. All that remains of its seven-year occupancy is a few lonely pieces of crockery.

You’d imagine that Dublin’s business community would be keen to see the building quickly re-occupied. But when news emerged of Lidl’s interest, a store war erupted between purists and their persistent campaign to rid Dublin’s nicer streets of threatening no-frills outlets, and populist consumer champions who see the arrival of discount stores as an injection of healthy competition.

Lidl has been under fire all week. “Dublin’s top shopping area may see Lidl replace Habitat,” thundered a disapproving front-page headline in The Irish Times on Wednesday. With something of a smirk, it reported that the recession must be closing in, now that a discount store thought it could swoop into town and take up residence in Dublin’s “most fashionable area”.

By day two of “Lidl-gate”, An Taisce had stepped in, claiming that a classical 19th century building on Grafton Street, painstakiingly restored at a cost of €2.5 million in 2001, was not the ideal location for a price-busting chain store.

The trust’s rather sniffy attitude seemed to suggest that a retailer that built an empire on selling Bratwurst alongside men’s safety shoes was not the sort of tenant it wanted to see take up residence in a conservation area. Lidl, with its knockdown bargains and two for one offers, would lower the tone of the neighbourhood.

Discount stores were a subject of fun during the boom. Shoppers joked about tearing off the packaging so Lidl purchases could not be identified, and Lidl’s own television advertisments played on this perceived snobbery. The joke is wearing thin, though, after the National Consumer Agency’s survey found that a basket of 28 own-brand goods was more than 50% cheaper in Lidl than in Tesco or Dunnes Stores.

I don’t mind admitting it: this lady “Lidls”. I actively seek out the store’s catalogues tucked inside the weekend papers, relishing the specials on offer, be they €10 wetsuits or €1.99 sewing kits. That I neither surf nor sew is irrelevant.

The fixation doesn’t end there. It creeps into phone calls with my mother in Mullingar, where one of the first rural Lidl stores opened. Witness to many a stampede for cut-price televisions or satellite navigation sets in the early days, my mammy is an expert on all things Lidl.

Our family owes a lot to this German discounter. When the 15-year-old family terrier fell ill with stomach problems some years back, we feared he would leave us until a friend suggested feeding him Lidl cat food, as it was easier on the animal’s stomach. The dog, I’m happy to report, lives to this day, his daily dietary requirements costing just €0.49 a sachet.

One detail lost in this latest Lidl debate is that the prime spot being argued over is not actually on Grafton Street. The building in question has two entrances, one on College Green and the other on Suffolk Street, and is more Dame Street than anywhere else.

The critics object that Lidl would look out of place in the neighbourhood but if they removed their sepia-tinted glasses for a minute, they’d see a large Starbucks across the street from the College Green entrance, and a graffiti-drenched National Irish Bank a few doors up.

They might also notice the seemingly infinite number of convenience stores dotted along the street — plus Condom Power and a lapdancing club nearby.

Suffolk Street is not much better. Avoca, a pricey handcraft designer store, sits uncomfortably among pizza outlets, betting shops and tacky souvenir outlets.

Anyway, it would take more than the rejection of one discount store to clean up our streets. Just look at O’Connell Street with its eight fast-food outlets, not counting over-the-shop eateries or internet cafes. Repaving the country’s main thoroughfare, planting trees and removing the Anna Livia monument was supposed to put the boulevard on a par with great European thoroughfares such as the Champs-Elysées or Las Ramblas. But the token greenery and odd art installation has done little to enhance an area cheapened beyond repair by arcades, rowdy pubs, and littering.

Grafton Street, supposedly a chi-chi area, is actually not much better. Shoppers can browse in several phone shops, check e-mails in internet cafes, shop in high-street clothing stores, or settle down to a coffee in the McCafe after they’ve chomped down on a Big Mac.

In fact, the only remaining high-end feature of Grafton Street (apart from Brown Thomas) is its commercial rents — the sixth most expensive in the world.

Is it any wonder that Abercrombie & Fitch, the American clothing giant, took one look at the place and shook its head. Advisors acting on behalf of the group reportedly viewed the Habitat store and the Grafton Arcade before declaring the area unsuitable because of its poor image and unattractive mix of shops.

An Taisce can fret all it likes about Lidl destroying the fabric of a historic quarter but I would argue that the steady advance of convenience stores and fast-food outlets in the area put paid to any lingering exclusivity some time ago.

If you want something to complain about when it comes to the proposed location, what about the lack of parking spaces? Even in city centres, many shoppers drive to supermarkets rather than struggle on and off buses with heavy bags and the dearth of parking could be a problem.

Lidl’s presence, however, is likely to increase footfall along the quiet Suffolk Street and to encourage more trade in the general area. That might be intrusive for some, but it makes eminent commercial sense when you consider the closest thing Grafton Street currently has to a grocery outlet is an M&S food hall, which mainly offers expensive meals for one.

With consumers looking to shop around, and vacant retail units waiting to be filled, surely every Lidl helps?

Sarah Carey is away

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