Hello,
I personally think it's down to people being more familiar with residential property, than commercial property, because we all live in residential property.
Notwithstanding the above, residential tenants have certain rights, typically only sign 1 year leases, often relocate so new tenants need to be found at extra cost, the landlord typically needs to cover repairs, decorate the property, register with the PRTB, possibly be subject to rent caps, possibly have a harder time evicting a troublsum tenant even when rent isn't paid and Im sure I'm forgetting other more important things. Also, it's worth keeping in mind that with the current housing problems in Ireland, most future governments are likely to continue to give preference to tenants and potential homebuyers, ahead of landlords.
Commercial properties sometimes need professionals to help manage them, negotiate leases etc. I suspect they property values don't increase at the same rate as good residential properties, but often commercial properties offer a better return (yield). Leases are typically longer term, often ranging from 5 years to 25 years in term. Some leases are Full Repairing and Insuring (so the tenant covers repairs and insurance), but not all. You can potentially secure a very good commercial tenant, which can significantly reduce the potential risk of rent not being paid. Commercial properties are less hands on, in my view, so require less of your time.
Is the commercial property that you are looking at outside of one of the cities, possibly multi-let, and / or on short term leases, possibly specialist in use ? Also, are you intending to acquire the properties in your personal names, rather than through a holding company? There's factors all influence the level of debt on offer. That's not to say that 50% might not be the right amount of debt to take on btw.
If you've not already done so, get some tax advice on how best to acquire and hold the properties - quite a few people are buying properties through companies these days and lenders seem to favour that method too.
Last, but not least, don't foget the golden rule when considering buying property - location, location, location