The Liffey Valley Shopping Centre, Dublin's latest out of town shopping mall is open for business.
The £100 million Liffey Valley Shopping Centre development at Quarryvale in west Dublin, has 250,000 square foot retail space, 23 aces of car parking and 70 shops. Some 60,000 people a day are expected to visit, mostly from nearby Lucan and Clondalkin, but also from further afield.
It’s better than having to go to town, at least you don’t have to pay for the car parking and that.
While the the new shopping outlet is smaller than the Blanchardstown Centre, when fully complete the 180 acre site will far outstrip its rival.
Less than a third of the 70 retail outlets are Irish, the majority British high street names. Liffey Valley Centre manager Kevin Duffy explains,
What we wanted to do was to offer our customers a unique shopping experience and that meant bringing people in from Europe and it’s not a lack of Irish retailers in the shopping centre.
Tesco has spent around £25 million on an 11 acre site near the centre which is subject to planning permission.
The planning history of the Quarryvale site has been controversial. A British based developer who previously tried to develop it, is reported to have made a statement to the Flood Tribunal, some of it concerning his own involvement in Quarryvale.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 14 October 1998. The reporter is Carole Coleman.
