The Square Tallaght

The 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. On 23 October 2020, it was announced that the planned expansion of The Square had been postponed, with management Sigma Retail Partners blaming the COVID-19 pandemic. ==Facilities==

The Square is not only a commercial but also a civic centre, the Office of the Revenue Commissioners had 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. The Civic Theatre is located close to The Square Town centre, which hosts theatre, music, dance, opera and comedy. The Tallaght University Hospital is located 250m from the Square. It has 3 floors, surface and multi-storey car parks, with the scenic lifts in the centre locally notorious for breakdowns and due to a woman suing the centre, the lifts have been replaced over 3 times. ==Public transport==

The centre is served by the Luas Red Line, and the nearest stop for the shopping centre is the terminus at Tallaght. ==References==