The Square Tallaght is a

shopping centre A shopping center (American English) or shopping centre ( Commonwealth English), also called a shopping complex, shopping arcade, shopping plaza or galleria, is a group of shops built together, sometimes under one roof. The first known colle ...

located in

Tallaght ) , image_skyline = TallaghtDublinD24.jpg , image_caption = Tallaght, Dublin , image_flag = , flag_size = , pushpin_map = Dublin#Ireland , pushpin_label_position = left , ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, opened in 1990. It is located 10 minutes from junction 11 of the M50 motorway on the Belgard Road (the R113) and the N81. The centre comprises 53,000 m² of retail space, spread across three levels, and as of 2016 has up to 163 stores. It has an annual footfall of 21.7 million. There are over 2500 car parking spaces. The anchor tenants are Dunnes Stores, Penneys and Tesco. When The Square opened it was the largest shopping centre in

History

The centre was opened on 23 October 1990, in the presence of 45,000 people, by then

Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legislature) and the o ...

Charles Haughey Charles James Haughey (; 16 September 1925 – 13 June 2006) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach on three occasions – 1979 to 1981, March to December 1982 and 1987 to 1992. He was also Minister for the Gaeltacht from ...

, having been built at a cost of £85 million. Others who were in attendance included Gay Byrne, who hosted his radio show from the "Crows Nest" in the shopping centre, as well as

Mary Harney Mary Harney (born 11 March 1953) is an Irish former politician and the current Chancellor of the University of Limerick. She was leader of the Progressive Democrats party between 1993 and 2006 and again from 2007 to 2008, resuming the role aft ...

Pat Rabbitte Pat Rabbitte (born 18 May 1949) is an Irish former Labour Party politician who served as Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources from 2011 to 2014, Leader of the Labour Party from 2002 to 2007 and a Minister of State from 19 ...

, the then

Director-General of RTÉ The Director-General is chief executive and editor-in-chief of public service broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). The current director-general is Dee Forbes, who replaced Noel Curran in the role in 2016. Appointment and role The RT� ...

Vincent Finn and the

Fine Gael Fine Gael (, ; English: "Family (or Tribe) of the Irish") is a liberal-conservative and Christian-democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil � ...

leader at the time Alan Dukes. It was the first of four large shopping complexes built in the suburban centres surrounding

from the late 1980s onwards and was for a while the largest shopping centre in Ireland. The others are

Blanchardstown Shopping Centre The Blanchardstown Centre is one of Ireland's largest shopping centres, located in Blanchardstown, Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It opened in October 1996 and was extended in 2004 to create extra retail space. It lies in the administra ...

Liffey Valley Shopping Centre Liffey Valley Shopping Centre is a shopping centre located in Dublin 22, Ireland which Comprises 80 stores and 20 Restaurants. The centre opened on and is located near the junction of the M50 motorway and N4 road closely surrounded by Lucan ...

and

Dundrum Town Centre Dundrum Town Centre is a shopping centre located in Dundrum, Dublin, Ireland. It is Ireland's largest shopping centre with over 169 tenants, almost of floor space, and over 3,400 car parking spaces. It is located just south of the village ce ...

. The opening of the centre would be the first of many new developments in the area over the coming years.

Technological University Dublin Technological University Dublin ( ga, Ollscoil Teicneolaíochta Bhaile Átha Cliath) or TU Dublin is Ireland's first technological university, established on 1 January 2019, and with a history stretching back to 1887 through the amalgamated Du ...

, the

National Basketball Arena National Basketball Arena, also known as Tallaght Arena, is an indoor sporting arena located in Tymon Park, Tallaght, South Dublin, adjacent to the M50 motorway. The capacity of the arena is 2,500 people and it opened in January 1993. It is u ...

(The Arena), the Civic Theatre and

Tallaght University Hospital The Tallaght University Hospital ( ga, Ospidéal Ollscoile Thamhlachta) is a teaching hospital in County Dublin, Ireland. Its academic partner is the Trinity College Dublin. It is managed by Dublin Midlands Hospital Group. History The hospital ...

all opened within a few years of the shopping centre. The centre celebrated its 25th anniversary on 23 October 2015. The centre was later granted permission by

An Bord Pleanála (; meaning "The Planning Board"; ABP) is an independent, statutory, quasi-judicial body that decides on appeals from planning decisions made by local authorities in the Republic of Ireland. As of 2007, An Bord Pleanála directly decided major ...

for a major redevelopment to the centre. The proposed project would add about 200,000 square feet of retail space. On 23 October 2020, it was announced that the planned expansion of The Square had been postponed, with management Sigma Retail Partners blaming the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

Facilities

The Square is not only a commercial but also a civic centre, the Office of the

Revenue Commissioners The Revenue Commissioners ( ga, Na Coimisinéirí Ioncaim), commonly called Revenue, is the Irish Government agency responsible for customs, excise, taxation and related matters. Though Revenue can trace itself back to predecessors (with the ...

have an office there as does the

Department of Social Protection The Department of Social Protection ( ga, An Roinn Cosanta Sóisialta) is a department of the Government of Ireland, tasked with administering Ireland's social welfare system. It oversees the provision of income support and other social service ...

, the

Health Service Executive The Health Service Executive (HSE) ( ga, Feidhmeannacht na Seirbhíse Sláinte) is the publicly funded healthcare system in Ireland, responsible for the provision of health and personal social services. It came into operation on 1 January 2005 ...

(HSE) the Eastern Region and FÁS share a building on the car park of level one. In addition, both the headquarters of

South Dublin County Council South Dublin County Council ( ga, Comhairle Contae Átha Cliath Theas) is the authority responsible for local government in the county of South Dublin, Ireland. It is one of three local authorities created by the Local Government (Dublin) Act ...

and the Tallaght branch of South Dublin Libraries are adjacent to the site. A Civic Theatre is located close to The Square Town centre, which hosts theatre, music, dance, opera and comedy. The

is also located nearby. It has 3 floors and a car park, due to a woman suing the centre, the lifts have been replaced.

Public transport

The centre is served by the

Luas Luas (pronounced ; Irish for "speed") is a tram/ light rail system in Dublin, Ireland. There are two main lines: the Green Line, which began operating on 30 June 2004, and the Red Line which opened on 26 September 2004. Since then, both li ...

Red Line, the nearest stop for the shopping centre is the terminus at

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. The Square Shopping Centre is also served by 10 bus routes which are the 27, 49, 54a, 56a, 65, 75, 76, 76a, 77a and the 175. IMG 0557w

References

External links

The Square Shopping Centre

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Square Shopping Centre Shopping centres in County Dublin Tallaght Buildings and structures in South Dublin (county) 1990 establishments in Ireland Shopping malls established in 1990