THE "fact sheet" on the Blanchardstown Town Centre boasts that its central area can accommodate two Boeing 7475 in a nose-to-tail configuration, and that 96,000 tonnes of concrete and 6,000 tonnes of structural steel were used in its construction.
Shoppers could not fail to be impressed by the scale of the glazed-roof centre which, when completed next year, will be one of the largest retail and leisure developments ever built in Ireland.
There are 105 retail outlets in the two-storey centre, which will open in three phases. Eighty-three stores are open for business today and the remainder will open over the next fortnight, according to the centre manager, Mr Aidan Grimes.
The completion of phase two early next year will include the opening of a nine-screen UCI cinema and a 55,000 sq ft Leisureplex.
The complex is laid out in a linear dumb-bell formation with the two anchor tenants, Dunnes Stores and Roches Stores, at either end. The total shop frontage on to the centre's six malls will exceed that of Grafton Street. It has four access points and four free colour-coded car parks.
About half of the retail units are occupied by UK-based companies, including Fosters Trading Company, which has no other outlet in the Republic, and Monsoon, which has another outlet in Grafton Street.
Others include Virgin, HMV, Mothercare, the Body Shop and its rival Goodbodies, as well as a range of fashion shops including Wallis, Top-Shop, Warehouse, Dorothy Perkins, Principles, Next, Bests and Milletts. The catalogue shop Argos will open next year.
Six financial institutions - banks and building societies - have outlets, and there will be eight restaurants, all branches of existing chains.
The centre will employ 2,000 people and is expected to attract more than 300,000 shoppers each week, according to Mr Grimes. The Taoiseach, Mr Bruton, and his wife, Finola, will perform today's opening ceremony at about 11.15 a.m.
The Blanchardstown Centre will open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays and Saturdays and until 9 p.m. on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Sunday opening hours will be from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.