The Irish subsidiary of global brewing giant InBev has issued High Court proceedings against Dunnes Stores. InBev owns Budweiser, Stella Artois and Staropramen.

InBev has hired Brennan & Co to act for it, while Matheson Ormsby Prentice has been retained by Dunnes Stores. InBev's European media office did not return a call seeking a comment on the case.

Alcohol sales in the Republic of Ireland are falling, partly because of the number of people travelling to Northern Ireland to buy beer and spirits in particular. Last week, Heineken Ireland said that, for the first time this decade, the off-trade sector has experienced a decline in volume of 4.1% year on year.

Heineken too has noticed the volume of cross-border trade, saying it "increased dramatically", particularly in December, "with the month's market off-trade volumes down 8% on similar levels in December 2007".

The comments came as the company announced that its turnover last year remained static at €346m, outperforming the broader market.

It also said it is aiming to become "the leading supplier of specialty lagers into the Irish marketplace in due course, and continues to enlarge its specialty portfolio". Its speciality beers include Paulaner, Sol and Polish beer Zywiec.