Former Iceland store may have off-licence sales area

TESCO Ireland intends to use the former Iceland unit at the New Bancroft Centre in Tallaght as a convenience store with an ancillary off-licence.

The supermarket recently submitted a planning application to South Dublin County Council seeking permission for an ancillary off-licence sales area in the former Iceland unit.

In documents submitted with the application, Tesco said the intended use for the unit is a “convenience store with an ancillary alcohol sales area”.

It is noted in the application that an off-licence measuring 62.46 sq m will be displayed in a consolidated and supervised area to the rear of the unit.

They also proposed a “second and much smaller alcohol sales area measuring around 1.15 sq m securely located behind the check-out area.”

However, they stated that the sale of alcohol will “remain subsidiary” to the use of the retail unit for the sale of convenience goods.

A decision on the application is due from the council by February 5.

The Echo contacted Tesco Ireland for comment, but a response wasn’t received at the time of going to print.

The former Iceland unit has lain idle since it closed in September as part of a raft of closures around the country, after the parent company of Iceland in Ireland – Metron Stores Ltd – entered liquidation.

This followed on from staff complaining about missing wages and the air conditioning being turned off in the Tallaght store – forcing staff to work in sweltering temperatures.

When speaking to The Echo last May, a staff member from the Tallaght store said they were treated like “dirt on the shoes” of senior management, before the company ultimately left the Irish market.