A site previously earmarked for a science and technology park in Ballymun, Dublin, has been identified as the possible location for the country's first Ikea furniture superstore.
The Irish Times has learned that the Swedish company has been in discussions with officials from Ballymun Regeneration Ltd (BRL), which owns the 100-acre site beside the M50 junction.
BRL, a not-for-profit company which was established by Dublin City Council, is responsible for the multi-billion-euro regeneration of Ballymun, which began in the late 1990s.
Its plans for the science and technology park have not been progressed, however, as BRL has been unable to identify anchor tenants because of the downturn in the technology sector since the proposals were first outlined in 1998.
The establishment of the superstore on the site, which is in the planning area of Fingal, is entirely dependent on the partial or full lifting of the current cap on retail floor space.
Ikea has already indicated it is willing to enter the Irish market, but will only do so if it is able to build a store with about 28,000 square metres in floor space. The current cap, set in retail planning guidelines, limits shopping floor space to just over 6,000 square metres.
The company has already made a submission to a review of the guidelines which began last year.
Yesterday a spokesman for the Minister for the Environment, Mr Roche, said the Minister hoped to bring to a conclusion the review of the guidelines as a matter of urgency.
The Department of the Environment is aware of the discussions, and senior officials and politicians, including Mr Roche, have been briefed on the discussions regarding the location of Ikea in Ballymun.
Mr Noel Ahern, the Minister of State at the Department, and a local TD for the area, has also been made aware of the proposal.
Yesterday a spokeswoman for Dublin City Council said Ballymun Regeneration Ltd "would be interested in anything that would make Ballymun a destination to visit".
The Minister for Enterprise and Employment, Mr Martin, said he wanted to see a review of the ban on below-cost selling, as well as the cap on the size of superstores.