BALLYMUN SHOPPING CENTRE is set to be fully vacated by the end of the year with the centre set for demolition.
Ballymun Regeneration Limited (BRL) and Dublin City Council are currently in negotiations with the remaining tenants in the centre about possible alternative retail sites and the cessation of operations in the centre.
The shopping centre is currently owned by NAMA.
Speaking on the closure of the centre, Sinn Féin councillor Noeleen Reilly expressed disappointment at the lack of replacement facilities:
We were promised as part of the regeneration master plan a state of the art shopping centre to go along with the much needed Metro North. Once the Labour and Fine Gael government announced the Metro North was not going ahead it seemed unlikely that the shopping centre would also proceed.
The Metro North project had been set to build a underground rail connection from central Dublin to the Airport, with stops in St Stephen’s Green, Ballymun, Swords and Drumcondra. The plans for Metro North were shelved in 2011.
An outline for the regeneration of the shopping centre were put forward in 1997 in plans by the government to abolish the Ballymun flat blocks. The “Masterplan for the New Ballymun” was released the following year and aimed at “the creation of a vibrant town centre for Ballymun”.
The announcement comes alongside news that Glassridge Ltd are applying for planning permission to develop the site of the old ESB site on the Ballymun Road.
On the development, local Sinn Féin councillor Noeleen Reilly said: “I think it is important that the site is developed as it is an eyesore at the moment, attracts anti social elements and also has a tendency to flood.”
The proposal being put forward by Glassridge Ltd is for the building of 31 apartments, 11 terraced houses, a landscaped internal courtyard and an underground car park.
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