The centre comprises 53,000m2 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.[citation needed]
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 Ireland.[citation needed]
History
The centre was opened on 23 October 1990, in the presence of 45,000 people, by then TaoiseachCharles Haughey, 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, Pat Rabbitte, the then Director-General of RTÉ Vincent Finn and the Fine Gael leader at the time Alan Dukes.[1]
The centre celebrated its 25th anniversary on 23 October 2015. The centre was later granted permission by An Bord Pleanála for a major redevelopment to the centre. The proposed project would add about 200,000 square feet of retail space.[2]
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.[3][4]
Facilities
The Square is not only a commercial but also a civic centre, the Office of the Revenue Commissioners have an office there as does the Department of Social Protection, the Health Service Executive (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 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 Tallaght University Hospital is also located nearby.
It has 3 floors, surface and multi-storey car parks, with the scenic lifts in the centre locally notorious for breakdowns and due to a woman suing the centre,[5] the lifts have been replaced over 3 times.
Public transport
The centre is served by the LuasRed Line, and the nearest stop for the shopping centre is the terminus at Tallaght.[6]
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article The_Square,_Tallaght, and is written by contributors.
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