The Square Tallaght
| File:The Square Logo.jpg | |
| Location | Tallaght, Dublin, Ireland |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. |
| Address | The Square Towncentre Tallaght Dublin 16 |
| Opening date | 23 October 1990 |
| No. of stores and services | 160 |
| No. of floors | 3 (main levels) |
| Website | http://www.thesquare.ie/ |
The Square Tallaght is the name of a shopping centre located in the heart of Tallaght, Dublin, Ireland. The Square Tallaght was founded in 1990, which in 2015 celebrated its 25th anniversary. It is located at the junction of the Belgard Road (the R113) and the N81 and is beside the Luas terminus stop, The Square. The centre is spread across 3 floors and currently has up to 160 stores to offer, as well as plenty of other services which are available in the centre. When The Square Shopping centre opened it was the largest shopping centre located in the Republic of Ireland.
Contents
History
The shopping centre opened on 23 October 1990 to a crowd of 45,000 by An Taoiseach at the time Charles Haughey, having been built at a cost of £85 million. Others who were in attendance was Gay Byrne, who hosted his 2FM 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]
It was the first of four large shopping complexes built in the towns surrounding Dublin from the late 1980s onwards and was for a while the largest shopping centre in Ireland.[2] The others are Blanchardstown Shopping Centre, Liffey Valley Shopping Centre and Dundrum Town Centre.
There was a fantastic atmosphere as the centre was opened to the 45,000 people in attendance who wanted to get a look inside Ireland’s best and largest shopping centre. Dunnes Stores and McDonalds, who are still in The Square today, were just two of the shops in the centre along with many others such as Roches Stores, A-Wear and of course the 12 screen cinema when the centre opened to the public.
Such was the excitement of the people of Tallaght and Ireland for this new shopping centre was the release of a song to commemorate it. In October 1990 a Dublin rock band called Achill released their song “The Square”, the single lasted two weeks in the Irish charts with the song peaking at number 26.
The opening of the centre would be the beginning of many new developments in the area over the coming years. Institute of Technology, Tallaght (ITT), the National Basketball Arena (The Arena), the Civic Theatre and Tallaght Hospital all opened within a few years of the shopping centre opening its doors, signifying its importance to the area.
The centre celebrated its 25th anniversary on October 23, 2015. The centre was recently granted permission by An Bord Pleanála for a major redevelopment to the centre. The proposed project will add c.200,000 sq.ft of retail space to the to The Square Shopping Centre.[3]
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 Adelaide and Meath Hospital is also located nearby.
The Square Shopping Centre provides free Wi-Fi throughout the Shopping Centre, to avail of it simply choose “TheSqTallaght” in your network settings for free internet access in the centre.[4]
Family Facilities
A number of initiatives have recently been undertaken to make the centre more family friendly, these improvements include indoor and outdoor play areas catering for children from 2 to 6 years old. The outdoor play area is located on Level 1 for children aged between 2–4 years of age, and the indoor play area is called Cheeky Monkey’s Jungle Gym which is free to use for children aged 2–6 years.[5]
The Square Shopping Centre have also recently introduced brand new toilet and baby changing facilities located on Level 2. These facilities are state of the art and have been designed to the highest quality, improving the look of the Centre and improving the overall shopping experience in the Centre. There are specially designed Parent and Baby parking spaces located throughout the car park in close proximity to all mall entrances. These spaces are larger and leave extra room for unloading children and buggies.
Oopsadaisy Toddler Group, Mini Strollex Cars, Baby bottle warming along with Cheeky Monkey nappy bags services are also available in the shopping centre. The centre also hosts free family events throughout the year.
Future Services
Along with the services which are currently being offered by the centre there are also some initiatives which will be available in the near future. The centre is currently developing an app which will be available through the Android and Apple App Store.[6] There is also plans for The Square TV in the near future.[7]
Tenants
The centre has seen many tenants over the years although there are a number which have been there since the centre opened its doors such as Fields Jewellers, Dunnes Stores, and McDonalds.
At present there are 128 tenants in The Square Shopping Centre with everything from retail shops such as CeX, Debenhams, Eason, Newbridge Silverware, PC World, and River Island. There are restaurants like Harry Ramsden, Nandos, Graham O'Sullivan and Subway.[8] The Square Shopping Centre also has a 13 Screen Cinema showing all the major new releases. For more information on all the tenants of The Square can be found on the Squares website at www.thesquare.ie/stores.
Public transport
The centre is served by the Luas Red Line, the closest station for the shopping centre is The Square stop which leaves you closest to the Tesco entrance on the ground level of the centre.
The Square Shopping Centre is also well served by many Dublin Bus routes which are the 27, 49, 56A, 65, 75, 76 and the 76A Bus routes. [9]
Hours
Most shops in The Square Shopping Centre are open from 9:00 AM Monday-Saturday with shops opening later on Sundays at 11:00 AM. The Square closes at 6:00 PM Monday, Tuesday, Saturday and Sunday. Late night shopping operates in the centre on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday until 9:00 PM.[10]
Although the centre closes at these times there are other facilities which remain open such as leisure facilities, restaurants and the cinema which stay open later and operate at their own hours.
Media
The Square Shopping Centre has a free magazine available throughout the centre called InTallaght Magazine with its first edition being put in circulation in March 2011, the company offers a host of other services also. The centre used to have an in-house radio transmission run by RTÉ 2FM located from the Birds Nest in The Square.
See also
Other shopping centres located Dublin:
Stephen's Green Shopping Centre
References
- ↑ http://search.proquest.com.dcu.idm.oclc.org/docview/530554845?accountid=15753
- ↑ http://search.proquest.com.dcu.idm.oclc.org/docview/530554845?accountid=15753
- ↑ http://www.thesquare.ie/development-plans/plans/
- ↑ http://www.thesquare.ie/about/
- ↑ http://www.thesquare.ie/about/family-facilities/
- ↑ http://www.thesquare.ie/square-app/
- ↑ http://www.thesquare.ie/about/
- ↑ http://www.thesquare.ie/stores/
- ↑ http://www.thesquare.ie/about/getting-here/
- ↑ http://www.thesquare.ie/about/opening-hours/
