Liffey Valley Shopping Centre

Liffey Valley Shopping Centre is a shopping centre in Dublin, Ireland. The centre is located at the junction of the M50 motorway and N4 road. The centre was a replacement for a much larger complex mooted for the site, known as Quarryvale. It opened in 1999. In 2007, the centre was granted town status. [ [http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/commercialproperty/2007/0425/1177280174465.html ireland.com - The Irish Times - Wed, Apr 25, 2007 - Liffey Valley site for 575 apartments to make over €50m ] ]

Anchor tenants at the centre are Marks and Spencer, a textiles-only Dunnes Stores, and Boots. The centre is home to a Vue cinema (formerly Ster Century) which is claimed to be the busiest multiplex in Ireland and the UK.Fact|date=February 2007 It also houses several restaurants, including Spur, Eddie Rockets and a Bagel Factory Cafe. On the second floor of the complex is a Food Court which has restaurants including McDonald's, KFC, Burger King, Spud U Like, Abrakebabra, Kylemore Cafe, BB's Coffee and others. An associated retail park is nearby, with several warehouse-style stores, including PC World, Currys, Jim Langan Furniture, Carpet Right, Argos, Byrne's World of Wonder, also of note is B&Q and Halfords retail outlets.

One initial criticism of the centre is that unlike its rivals, the Blanchardstown Shopping Centre and The Square Tallaght, there is no supermarket (other than a small section within Marks and Spencer). This has not dented the centre's popularity, however.

Development of the site into non-retail commercial entitys has already begun, with the Clarion Hotel and Liffey Valley Health and Fitness recently opening its doors. Also large development of office space, similar to those already in place at the Blanchardstown Shopping Centre, has been completed.

In 2005 planning applications were made to further develop the site into a more all round destination. These plans include apartments and more leisure focused units located away from the main shopping centre. The developers also had a model in the center, showing a proposed Metro line to the south-east of the shopping centre which would have been linked to Tallaght. Also in late 2005, several new retail outlets opened on the first floor, including a branch of H & M.

History

The centre and its proprietors have not been free from controversy, as the land Liffey Valley is built on is called Quarryvale, rezoned by Liam Lawlor and others in the former Dublin County Council. Questions have been raised from the highest levels in the state as to whether money was unethically gained from such a large rezoning of prime land, close to Dublin. This has even lead to Tribunal inquiries to the Quarryvale and other land rezoning projects across Dublin, although no wrong-doing has ever been proved. Similar questions also relate to Adamstown, a whole new town being planned, which is close to Liffey Valley and whether the developers of the centre knew Adamstown was going to be built.

See also

Other Main Shopping Centres located nearby:
* Blanchardstown Shopping Centre
* The Square, Tallaght
* Dundrum Town Centre, Dundrum

External links

* [http://www.liffeyvalley.ie/shops_1.php List of Shops in Liffey Valley]
* [http://www.liffeyvalley.ie/getting_here_car.php Map of Liffey Valley]
* [http://maps.google.com/?t=k&ll=53.353113,-6.390803&spn=0.004918,0.014634&t=k Satellite Photo of Liffey Valley on Google Maps]

Notes