Echo at 45: It was the largest shopping centre in Ireland
The Square Town Centre was opened on 23 October 1990, in the presence of 45,000 people, by then Taoiseach Charles 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.
It was the first of four large shopping complexes built in the suburban centres surrounding Dublin from the late 1980s onwards and was for a while the largest shopping centre in Ireland.
The others are Blanchardstown Shopping Centre, Liffey Valley Shopping Centre and Dundrum Town Centre.
The opening of the centre would be the first of many new developments in the area over the coming years.
Technological University Dublin, the National Basketball Arena (The Arena), the Civic Theatre and Tallaght University Hospital all opened within a few years of the shopping centre.
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.
