Limerick ghost town

ErnieBert

I was in Limerick city last weekend for the first time in 4 or 5 years. I couldn't believe how quiet the city centre was and the amount of shops that are closed down. I accept that we are in a recession, but I was shocked nonetheless.

On our second day, my wife wanted to go to the Crescent Shopping Centre. This was a wonderful surprise. It is as good, if not better, than the likes of Liffey Valley or Dundrum etc. As a retail experience, it was excellent. But the O'Connell Street/Cruises Street/ William Street area just seemed run down and desolate.

But has this taken the life and soul out of the centre of Limerick? It saddened me because my memories of going to Limerick when I was a child were always ones of vibrancy and energy.

Poxyshamrock

Ah not to worry though, the future is bright according to this clown...

http://www.live95fm.ie/news/news-item/new-look-st-johns-square-tipped-to-bring-tourists-flocking-to-limerick/ba0157c4-7330-44a6-805e-87d04dedd926

gloobag

Maybe Limerick should just start marketing itself as a dilapidated old ghost town? I'd say we'd get €10million into the city no bother

We could stage reenactments of various shoot outs like they do in those old wild west towns in the states :pac:

phog

Maybe people should make an effort and shop in the city. It amazes me that so mnay complain about paying for parking in Limerick but are willing to use multstory car parks when they drive to Dublin or Cork. :eek:

bernardo mac

William St.is an example of what has happened in other towns and cities:Tacky,if sometimes useful,Eurostyle stores have replaced the traditional shops;difficult and penal parking.Some stores blast ultra loud "music" to attract a particular clientele but imho that only diminishes the reputation of what was once a fine shopping area

Kess73

phog wrote: »

Maybe people should make an effort and shop in the city. It amazes me that so mnay complain about paying for parking in Limerick but are willing to use multstory car parks when they drive to Dublin or Cork. :eek:

I agree with you to a point. Speaking for myself I have no problem paying for parking be it in Limerick, Cork, Galway etc. But the one thing I do want is a good range of stores that interest me and where I would want to spend my money.

Limerick city centre just does not have this range and it has been a number of years since it did.

The excuse that is often given about parking is just a white elephant that gets trotted out to avoid the fact that Limerick as a city centre has a store range closer to that of a big town than that of a city.

hightower1

Kess73 wrote: »

I agree with you to a point. Speaking for myself I have no problem paying for parking be it in Limerick, Cork, Galway etc. But the one thing I do want is a good range of stores that interest me and where I would want to spend my money.

Limerick city centre just does not have this range and it has been a number of years since it did.

The excuse that is often given about parking is just a white elephant that gets trotted out to avoid the fact that Limerick as a city centre has a store range closer to that of a big town than that of a city.

Completely agree. The range of shops in the city is terrible.
If your a male between 18- 40 and want some fashionible clothes that arent part of the scumbag uniform you have a choice of 3 shops in the cit center (River island, connelys or jack jones) ....3.... in the entire city center. What a joke.

I had to pick up a birthday present for my small brother last week and I live in the city center, off into town I trot to realise the ONLY place top get toys for a young child (not a toddler) was argos. WTF?

plenty of places to buy booze or video games which sounds great but in practice if you actualy just want to browse in the city its ridiculous.

gloobag

I have to agree with what's been said. I live out in Raheen myself, but there's absolutley nothing that would entice me into the city during the day. In fact up until a few weeks back I hadn't been to the city centre during the day for over two years. And even then it was for a photo shoot (models choice, not mine) and not to shop/wander/enjoy the ambience. It was a gorgeous Saturday afternoon, the sun was shining, but as the OP said, it was a ghost town.

demon1

Have to agree with what's said. Had to buy a new computer monitor and some networking equipment recently. I live in the city center but had to travel out to the childer's road to PC world to have any choice.

phog

But we did have some of most of the stores (aside from M&S ) in the city centre and they just got squeezed out the foot fall wasnt there for them, hard for people to complain now when the stores weren't supported when they had a presence in the city.

Liam Byrne

Poxyshamrock wrote: »

Ah not to worry though, the future is bright according to this clown...

http://www.live95fm.ie/news/news-item/new-look-st-johns-square-tipped-to-bring-tourists-flocking-to-limerick/ba0157c4-7330-44a6-805e-87d04dedd926

The upgrade will include the installation of a new one way traffic system, the widening of footpaths and the opening up of part of the square to pedestrians.

Wow! I have mates in Australia and Canada that can't wait to fly over to see those! :rolleyes:

Jagle

Liam Byrne wrote: »

Wow! I have mates in Australia and Canada that can't wait to fly over to see those! :rolleyes:

indeed, i mean i look at the thomas and now william street area, after putting down new footpaths the tourists just flock to watch scum drink on the street and cause fights...

who ever thinks that revamp will do anything other then waste is a joke.

and worst part of all is, there is never anyone around their anyway, why would someone walk up that part of town, nothing their but funeral homes, old churchs an offie and chipshop

savagecabbages

Jagle wrote: »

indeed, i mean i look at the thomas and now william street area, after putting down new footpaths the tourists just flock to watch scum drink on the street and cause fights...

who ever thinks that revamp will do anything other then waste is a joke.

and worst part of all is, there is never anyone around their anyway, why would someone walk up that part of town, nothing their but funeral homes, old churchs an offie and chipshop

Lets not forget the jewel in the squares crown that is Mr Binman!

Jagle

savagecabbages wrote: »

Lets not forget the jewel in the squares crown that is Mr Binman!

and a doctors office too...

and another pharmacy, actually, why so many bloody pharmacy's in the city


anyone point is, what a waste of a million bucks, least the winos will ahve somewhere nice to drink by the fountain now

constantg

Jagle wrote: »

indeed, i mean i look at the thomas and now william street area, after putting down new footpaths the tourists just flock to watch scum drink on the street and cause fights..

Yeah kinda surprised by that one guys, its kinda weird being form cork and having worked/studied in Cork City, Dublin, Galway, Kilkenny and seeing more than a few people wander about the streets of Limerick at all hours drinking away.....

RonMexico

The closer we get to the zombie festival the funnier I think it is being held in Limerick (in a morbid dark sense of humour kind of way)

Maybe Bord Failte could market the place as Zombie City. It could be worth €10million to the city...

BESman

constantg wrote: »

Yeah kinda surprised by that one guys, its kinda weird being form cork and having worked/studied in Cork City, Dublin, Galway, Kilkenny and seeing more than a few people wander about the streets of Limerick at all hours drinking away.....

Yup, I think Limerick is the worst for purely bizarre behaviour at all hours of the day. Too many beggars as well. Limerick has zero tourism and this is a big problem. Tourists in Dublin, Cork and Galway make up for the lack of footfall from domestic consumers. Limerick also lacks a decent sized university in the city centre. UL is too removed and Mary I and LIT are too small. Cork and Galway both have a large university campus in the city centre with 15,000 to 20,000 people being added to each city centre as a result.

constantg

I haven't lived here really for long enough to be able to say with any certainty, but in 8 years I can say though the place has dis-improved, it wasn't too great to begin with. Can anyone tell me when the city was better? Like what yardstick are we using here to measuer success or failure?

Kess73

constantg wrote: »

I haven't lived here really for long enough to be able to say with any certainty, but in 8 years I can say though the place has dis-improved, it wasn't too great to begin with. Can anyone tell me when the city was better? Like what yardstick are we using here to measuer success or failure?

Just thinking back to what Limerick city centre was like around 1991 to 1999 or so.

There was the O'Connell Mall (which was Woolworths before that) which had Tony's Music scene (there may be a theme here with me remembering music shops lol), the next block up had Nestors sports store and Empire music straight across from it (think Empire was in the Williamscourt mall before that).

Downstairs in Todds/Brown Thomas had a Golden disc store. Arthur's quay had a golden discs store. Tots to teens had a music store under it, and HMV is where it is now. Plus there were music shops like Black spot and the one in the celler on Cecil street.

Patrick street had a Forbidden planet store, and there were far more by way of clothes shops, electrical shops etc.

There was a Sony centre on O Connell street, plus genelles (spelling) newsagent. There were great pubs like Quins knocking about as well as places like Javas.

Cruises street had full units as did Arthur's Quay

Boyds was busy on William street and Roches Stores was where Debenhams is now. Sarsfield Bridge had Dunnes stores beside it and there were other shops in that centre. Around the corner on Liddy street there was an electrical store, a paint shop, and a few other shops.


There were cinemas at the Theatre royal, plus at the Carlton on Shannon street and Central on Bedford row. Then there was a cinema at the Savoy on bedford row which also had a bowling alley, and a venue for live gigs and for clubbing.

The Crescent Shopping centre was still busy (the new section, which is basically from Lifestyle sports to River Island, was not built until the late 1990's if memory serves right) as it had been since it opened in 1973.

The Parkway shopping centre was also pretty much stocked with full units.

The Jetland was a big Dunnes stores.

Towards the end of the decade the Dock road had the likes of Compustore etc in the Riverside Business park which at the time was full in terms of units as well.


I'm sure that there are plenty of Limerick heads on here that can remember lots of other busy stores during that time.

Jagle

+1 remember all of that, so much more life 10 years ago

theparish

Its all the fault of the new polished sandstone on the upgraded streets,death traps I tell ya death traps.:eek:

Amazotheamazing

Hmm, the rise of the Crescent and decline of the city centre....

More tellingly, a lot of shops went to wall when the internet came in, music shops, specialist stores etc.

Mc Love

The extension on the Crescent was built in the early 00's as I remember working in Tesco when I was 16 and from the canteen window you could see them building the underground carpark.

Poxyshamrock

Mc Love wrote: »

The extension on the Crescent was built in the early 00's as I remember working in Tesco when I was 16 and from the canteen window you could see them building the underground carpark.

Yeah it would have commenced in 2000 with the first shops opening in June 2001!

krudler

Poxyshamrock wrote: »

Yeah it would have commenced in 2000 with the first shops opening in June 2001!

I worked in the Omniplex in 2000 and it was under construction at that stage because we had to cross the car park to get to the cinema, its mad how far away it was from the crescent, which used to end right about where that zumo juice bar and claires accessories is, from there on is the extension.

the town has gone to sh1t in recent months though, I go in there twice a month, once to get a prescription and another to buy a magazine that most places dont sell, if Easons had a shop in the crescent I'd have even less reason to go in there.

Cherrycoke

[QUOTE=Jagle;74483384and worst part of all is, there is never anyone around their anyway, why would someone walk up that part of town, nothing their but funeral homes, old churchs an offie and chipshop[/QUOTE]

There's actually a lot of people living in this area, myself included :rolleyes:

Crosses Funeral home is one of the most used funeral homes in the city, Fords chipper is probably the best known chipper, and one of those "old churches" is a stunning cathedral, in my opinion, the most beautiful in Limerick.

It's not fair to dismiss the area just because it isn't of any interest/use to you

Poxyshamrock

krudler wrote: »

I worked in the Omniplex in 2000 and it was under construction at that stage because we had to cross the car park to get to the cinema

It's mad to think the Omniplex once had a big set of steps up to it!

Simon Adebisi

Ha, id forgotten that. We went to see Sleepy Hollow years ago half cut and i fell up them steps

The city centre is bollixed but its nearly eerie after 7 or 8 its gone so quiet.

Kess73

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

Hmm, the rise of the Crescent and decline of the city centre....

More tellingly, a lot of shops went to wall when the internet came in, music shops, specialist stores etc.

The Crescent opened in 1973 so it should have had an effect on the city centre a lot sooner than the start of the 2000's. Even before the new section it had over 70 stores in it so blaming the Crescent for the decline of the city centre is a bit of a cop out imho.

Granted the internet would have had a big impact on some stores, but many of the brands (or very similar types of retail) that were in Limerick city centre 10 years ago, 15 years ago etc are still doing well in the likes of Cork city centre. A wide variety of clothes shops (both independent and chain), music shops, comic stores, book stores etc are all doing well on Patrick street in Cork and on many of the streets off of there.

What is interesting is how things like rates and rent in the city centre started to skyrocket towards the end of the 90's and have pretty much continued to do so to this day. Cork and Galway on the other hand have rates now that are something like 25% less than they were there 10 years ago. To me that looks like their city authoritioes reacted quickly when the downturn started whereas their Limerick counterparts continued to try to squeeze whatever they could from retailers and businesses. Hence why many businesses have left Limerick city centre in recent years to set up elsewhere and have quoted to the media that the high rates were a major part in why they moved.

hightower1

Cherrycoke wrote: »

There's actually a lot of people living in this area, myself included :rolleyes:

Crosses Funeral home is one of the most used funeral homes in the city, Fords chipper is probably the best known chipper, and one of those "old churches" is a stunning cathedral, in my opinion, the most beautiful in Limerick.

It's not fair to dismiss the area just because it isn't of any interest/use to you

I used to live on john street and I can say without a doubt that it IS a Kip. The amount of hassle youd get in a month for simply walking home there is a joke and sure the church is nice but I would go there week after week just to see something beautiful again and again least of all which while your looking up all you'll hear is the scumbag accent surround you down there.

The other points of crosses being the most used funeral home is irrelivent, yeah, its a popular funeral home? Does that redeem the area at all? Is it a nice or use full reason to visit there for the casual shopper?

Donkey fords is one of the scummiest chippers in existence and certainly not worth the trip to that street unless ur mad after its unique taste, don't mind the accents round that area for ten mins and have a car you can run in and out of to minimize the time spent down there.

/end rant, bottom line..its a hole.

Amazotheamazing

Kess73 wrote: »

The Crescent opened in 1973 so it should have had an effect on the city centre a lot sooner than the start of the 2000's. Even before the new section it had over 70 stores in it so blaming the Crescent for the decline of the city centre is a bit of a cop out imho.

Granted the internet would have had a big impact on some stores, but many of the brands (or very similar types of retail) that were in Limerick city centre 10 years ago, 15 years ago etc are still doing well in the likes of Cork city centre. A wide variety of clothes shops (both independent and chain), music shops, comic stores, book stores etc are all doing well on Patrick street in Cork and on many of the streets off of there.

What is interesting is how things like rates and rent in the city centre started to skyrocket towards the end of the 90's and have pretty much continued to do so to this day. Cork and Galway on the other hand have rates now that are something like 25% less than they were there 10 years ago. To me that looks like their city authoritioes reacted quickly when the downturn started whereas their Limerick counterparts continued to try to squeeze whatever they could from retailers and businesses. Hence why many businesses have left Limerick city centre in recent years to set up elsewhere and have quoted to the media that the high rates were a major part in why they moved.

I disagree tbh, loads of the best specialist shops in Galway have closed down too. Shop Street in Galway, for example, used to have way more independent shops but slowly but surely they are being replaced with phone shops and tourist shops and this process will continue everywhere in Ireland.

Even Grafton street is getting more homogenised year on year.

Also, I would say the Crescent did have an effect on the city centre from the 1970's on, it just became more pronounced when the new wing opened.

Mc Love

I remember there used to be busloads of tourists parked along O'Connell st, now you are lucky to even see one!

Jagle

Cherrycoke wrote: »

There's actually a lot of people living in this area, myself included :rolleyes:

Crosses Funeral home is one of the most used funeral homes in the city, Fords chipper is probably the best known chipper, and one of those "old churches" is a stunning cathedral, in my opinion, the most beautiful in Limerick.

It's not fair to dismiss the area just because it isn't of any interest/use to you

a funeral home is hardly a good thing.
i never said there chips were bd, and yes, but all that is has is two old churchs, there is never any people walking around browsing, like you might have found on thomas street/william street, i dont understand how it gets a million euro spent on that part of town

and i pass through the area alot, all i ever see is drunks, young scumeens and people in black, hardly a good view for the city

bernardo mac

Of course Limerick has its share of drunks and "undesirables" as many urban areas do these times;however , I have come across genuine, often young unfortunates possibly homeless,maybe drug/alcohol dependent, looking wrecked,malnourished,yes begging but who are not a threat to passersby and in urgent need of official help and direction

Kess73

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

I disagree tbh, loads of the best specialist shops in Galway have closed down too. Shop Street in Galway, for example, used to have way more independent shops but slowly but surely they are being replaced with phone shops and tourist shops and this process will continue everywhere in Ireland.

Even Grafton street is getting more homogenised year on year.

Also, I would say the Crescent did have an effect on the city centre from the 1970's on, it just became more pronounced when the new wing opened.

Funny how it has managed to avoid having a similar % of dead units as Limerick city centre though. Guess the fact that their city authorities made significant cuts to the rates made no difference eh?


But the example I gave was of Cork city centre and my point is valid for there, and it is probably a better example as Cork has a number of shopping centres and retail parks in it's outskirts like Mahon Point, Blackpool SC, Wilton SC, etc. Plus They managed to open a similar city centre project to the Limerick Opera centre during the downturn and got retailers to fill it.


Now I will agree that my next point is not the only factor that came/comes into play with regards to Limerick city centre, but those that were/are the decision makers for Limerick city centre over the last 20 to 25 years have made some awful decisions in business terms and we still have a situation where many of those who get to decide business matters for the city centre have no business or retail experience whatsoever and trot out their populist parish pump lines over and over to give the impression they have a clue as to what they are on about.

constantg

hightower1 wrote: »

Donkey fords is one of the scummiest chippers in existence and certainly not worth the trip to that street unless ur mad after its unique taste, don't mind the accents round that area for ten mins and have a car you can run in and out of to minimize the time spent down there.

/end rant, bottom line..its a hole.

Donkey's is gogeous.

But John's Sq is a kip and a dangerous one. When I was an undergrad (26 now, sniff sniff ) I used to walk home from the city to castletroy after the club for 2 reasons. 1 it saved me a few quid and 2 I liked a stroll as it helped clear the head and restore the hearing

After a few times going very quickly through John Sq I started avoiding it. Then I started avoiding it during the daytime. It's very dodgy.

It's also pretty dark like. I mean do you know the bit of Mungret Street before you come onto Broad Street/John Street? PITCH BLACK @ night. Seriously dangerous stuff lads.

vkid

Kess73 wrote: »

Guess the fact that their city authorities made significant cuts to the rates made no difference eh?
.

When are we talking about. Pretty sure i read last year or the year before, Limerick city was the only city to offer reductions in rates?

Cherrycoke

Jagle wrote: »

a funeral home is hardly a good thing.

It's a business that employs people isn't it? That's a great thing in this day and age.

bullets

I cant remember what the inside of woolworths was like but
remember the doors were very hard to open as a kid compared to other shop doors and thinking the store was great.

Another Great store to go was Nesteor's Sports something I'd love to see
back again. Fishing Rods, Bow and Arrows, Guns! all the cool stuff and
the place had a basement.

Boyds and Newsoms made William street. Even as a kid growing up that
street was known for the abundance of Pound Shop like shops that crept up
Catherine street. These two stores stuck out as great places. Boyd's around Christmas time would get in extra Toys in the basement and there would be bargains to be had.

Back then Burgerland with its yellow/green swivel chairrs bolted to the floor
was where kids went to be treated for their birthdays, And the only place other
than Hi-Hamburger in the Crescent that sold Mint Milkshakes.

Modesty Clothing. The place to go to but alternative clothing for Cheap.
Leather Jackers were 100 Pound's Vs the 500 Pounds you would spend at
Eve's?? Leather store. Levi's Jeans could be bought 2nd hand.
Over time the store got too mainstreem, stopped selling cheap or 2nd hand stuff and became way too expensive for the Customers that loved the place.

Roche's stores had a great Toy section too until it slowly dwindled away and the baby section with Prams and buggy's took over and it eventually closed.
Again with this store for some reason I always remember the front of the store being open most of the year, but on the run up to Christmas they opened up the back of the store with more toys (I may be mistaken due to faulty memories though) Nowadays ya got the Argos Catalog!

Tescos or Quinnsworth at the time in the Crescent had a great Toy section in the hardware dept too and thats almost gone today.

Genells? if that was the place the same street as the Savoy Cinema
used to be one of the few places you could get Iron Bru and certain types
of sweets and it had also unusual Magazines that sometimes Easons would not even stock.

Todd's had a fantastic Audio/Video dept with staff that actually knew
what they were talking about, not like nowadays.

Crescent shopping center had a DIY/Hardware store which was great
and even had a gift/gadget type place called "Final Touch"

~B

Sgt Hartman

Can't say I miss the Savoy too much. That place used to attract thugs, scrotes and scumbags like flies to ****.

I do miss the Old Vic club though. I remember they had a section upstairs where you could play SNES and Megadrive games for £2 an hour. They also had Neo Geos which I think where about £3 an hour to use.

hightower1

bullets wrote: »

Roche's stores had a great Toy section too until it slowly dwindled away and the baby section with Prams and buggy's took over and it eventually closed.
Again with this store for some reason I always remember the front of the store being open most of the year, but on the run up to Christmas they opened up the back of the store with more toys (I may be mistaken due to faulty memories though) Nowadays ya got the Argos Catalog!~B

Ah roches toys stores was the mutz nuts! I can still recall drolling over the new transformers figures, gawking at the giant wall of lego and picking up NES games in there!

Thread is full of nostalga, Id give good money to walk aroud 1990's Limerick for one more day

krudler

hightower1 wrote: »

Ah roches toys stores was the mutz nuts! I can still recall drolling over the new transformers figures, gawking at the giant wall of lego and picking up NES games in there!

Thread is full of nostalga, Id give good money to walk aroud 1990's Limerick for one more day

I remember going in there on my communion day and getting a sh1tload of He-Man and MASK figures, aw yeah those were the days. remember gawking at Ghostbusters toys and had my first play of Super Mario 3 in there *sniff*

seachto7

Jaysus, and the early 90s was supposed to be pre Celtic Tiger!!
I recall cycling into town, leaving the bike in the garage where Claws is now ( I think). 20p for the day, and they'd watch it for you. Ah, when it was safe to cycle in the dock road.
Remember Mullanys newsagents? Or the shop that opened on little Catherine street and sold American football jerseys. They were £50 at the time, which was not long ago, but was to me "a fortune".
What about Spaights? I was too young to actually shop in there, but many's the day I spent in there with the folks, and all I could remember was the amount of lights for sale hanging from the ceilings. That and the carpark on the roof. A treat would be a kinder egg...........
Got my first decent hi-fi in Todds/BTs in 1994.......

Jagle

Cherrycoke wrote: »

It's a business that employs people isn't it? That's a great thing in this day and age.

i hate this point, yes it may be a business, i was coming more from the point that they are wasting a million quid on doing up an area, that is of no benefit to tourism, i cant wait to book my next holiday abroad to go visit some nice funeral homes :rolleyes:

Insect Overlord

Is the Daghdha Theatre still in use there? If there were still concerts, galleries and drama going on in that part of town it would be well worth the investment. John's Cathedral is also a magnificent building, whether you're religious or not. The Market's Field isn't too far away either, so it's an area with a bit of potential.

liammur

ErnieBert wrote: »

I was in Limerick city last weekend for the first time in 4 or 5 years. I couldn't believe how quiet the city centre was and the amount of shops that are closed down. I accept that we are in a recession, but I was shocked nonetheless.

On our second day, my wife wanted to go to the Crescent Shopping Centre. This was a wonderful surprise. It is as good, if not better, than the likes of Liffey Valley or Dundrum etc. As a retail experience, it was excellent. But the O'Connell Street/Cruises Street/ William Street area just seemed run down and desolate.

But has this taken the life and soul out of the centre of Limerick? It saddened me because my memories of going to Limerick when I was a child were always ones of vibrancy and energy.

Practically no IDA jobs in 15 years has done the damage. Then the closure of Dell really added to the problems.

Remouad

liammur wrote: »

Practically no IDA jobs in 15 years has done the damage. Then the closure of Dell really added to the problems.

Dell didn't actually close. Sure they let about 1900 people go and stripped back manufacturing which caused a knock on effect but they currently employ about 1100-1200 people which would make them one of, if not the, biggest employers in Limerick.

Anyway back to Limerick City center. I work in the city center and agree it's dead when it's not lunch time during the week but there is a bit of life at the weekends with the market.

No ones mentioned it but the opera centre flopping was a big blow for the city too and if you think the crescent took business out of the city wait until they finish that ginormous place out by the parkway.

Landlords in the city need to seriously drop their prices if they want to get businesses and people back into the city.

Jagle

Insect Overlord wrote: »

Is the Daghdha Theatre still in use there? If there were still concerts, galleries and drama going on in that part of town it would be well worth the investment. John's Cathedral is also a magnificent building, whether you're religious or not. The Market's Field isn't too far away either, so it's an area with a bit of potential.

i dunno if it is, i hope so, havent heard anything going on there in a while

to be honest, its the people that often occupy the area is the problem, not the area itself, a new fancy square and fountain wont do much if drunks continue to occupy it

liammur

Remouad wrote: »

Dell didn't actually close. Sure they let about 1900 people go and stripped back manufacturing which caused a knock on effect but they currently employ about 1100-1200 people which would make them one of, if not the, biggest employers in Limerick.

Anyway back to Limerick City center. I work in the city center and agree it's dead when it's not lunch time during the week but there is a bit of life at the weekends with the market.

No ones mentioned it but the opera centre flopping was a big blow for the city too and if you think the crescent took business out of the city wait until they finish that ginormous place out by the parkway.

Landlords in the city need to seriously drop their prices if they want to get businesses and people back into the city.

The reason the Opera centre flopped is no IDA jobs

All you need to do is look at the companies the IDA have brought into Galway over the last 15 years, it's a who's who of the best.

Boston Scientific alone employ over 3,000.

Limerick is the only major centre in the country where there is no need for new primary schools. Why ? We need to think Why.

The mayor and politicians will probably blame the crescent shopping centre. The doughnut

liammur

Remouad wrote: »

Dell didn't actually close. Sure they let about 1900 people go and stripped back manufacturing which caused a knock on effect but they currently employ about 1100-1200 people which would make them one of, if not the, biggest employers in Limerick.

Anyway back to Limerick City center. I work in the city center and agree it's dead when it's not lunch time during the week but there is a bit of life at the weekends with the market.

No ones mentioned it but the opera centre flopping was a big blow for the city too and if you think the crescent took business out of the city wait until they finish that ginormous place out by the parkway.

Landlords in the city need to seriously drop their prices if they want to get businesses and people back into the city.

The reason the Opera centre flopped is no IDA jobs

All you need to do is look at the companies the IDA have brought into Galway over the last 15 years, it's a who's who of the best.

Boston Scientific alone employ over 3,000.

Limerick is the only major centre ( & waterford) in the country where there is no need for new primary schools. Why ? We need to think Why.

The mayor and politicians will probably blame the crescent shopping centre. The doughnut

bazz26

liammur wrote: »

The reason the Opera centre flopped is no IDA jobs

All you need to do is look at the companies the IDA have brought into Galway over the last 15 years, it's a who's who of the best.

Boston Scientific alone employ over 3,000.

Limerick is the only major centre in the country where there is no need for new primary schools. Why ? We need to think Why.

The mayor and politicians will probably blame the crescent shopping centre. The doughnut

The reason the Opera centre flopped is because the project stalled when the recession hit and the developers ran into financial diffculties.