Traders in some of the country's biggest shopping centres are locked in a standoff with their landlords as they try to force rent cuts they claim they need to survive, the Sunday Tribune has learnt.

Retailers at Dublin's Liffey Valley, Swords Pavilions, St Stephen's Green and Blackrock, at Limerick's Parkway and Cork's Blackpool, Douglas and Wilton shopping centres have told landlords they can't afford current rents.

Some 20 traders at Swords Pavilions banded together to meet with the centre owner, Chartered Land, last week and said they might close their doors if an agreement on a rent reduction isn't reached.

"Chartered Land said 'no way' when I sought a rent reduction in March," said a retailer at the north Dublin complex. Sales are down by 35%-40%, he claimed, and his rent has doubled in five years.

"The centre management would never comment publicly on the leasing arrangements between the centre and its tenants. Tenants can approach management at any time to discuss their leasing arrangements," a spokesperson for Pavilions said.

Cork jeweller John Neville has shops in the Douglas and Wilton centres. He said the landlord at Blackpool has agreed to negotiate rent cuts with 15 tenants, but the landlord at Wilton has not responded in the same way.

"There's a rent review due at Wilton in October which would usually raise rents by 70%-80%," said Neville. "If there is any rise at all it would close down half the centre."

Alfie Greene of Greene's Footwear claimed he will be locked out of his unit at Letterkenny shopping centre if rent is not paid in full, his landlord has advised him.