Shoppers gear up for Mahon Point opening

THOUSANDS of people are expected to flock to the opening in Cork tomorrow of the country’s biggest shopping centre outside Dublin.

More than 1,800 jobs will be created in one of the city’s unemployment blackspots when the doors of the €230 million Mahon Point Shopping Centre open at 10.30am.

The 250,000 sq ft centre has over 50 retail outlets, three restaurants, six food outlets and an 11-screen cineplex. There is parking for 1,600 cars.

Three quarters of the shops are ready to open tomorrow.

Clothing store Zara is due to open next Saturday.

A spokesman for Mahon Point developers, O’Callaghan Properties, said up to 200,000 shoppers are expected every week.

“This corresponds to about 10 million shoppers every year,” he said.

Mary McCarthy, Nicola Turnbull, Emily Higginbotham and Eileen Hartnett, were among the first local people to get jobs in the shopping centre, thanks to the Mahon Point Employment Training scheme, which was designed to maximise local take-up of jobs.

They start work tomorrow in Mahon Point’s massive 24-hour Tesco store - Cork’s second 24/7 Tesco.

The unique training scheme brought together O’Callaghan Properties Ltd, FÁS, the Mahon Community Association and the centre’s key retailers.

Figures released by FÁS over the weekend showed that of the 456 people who finished the course, 357 were placed in jobs - an almost 80% placement rate.

Developer Owen O’Callaghan praised FÁS and said he was delighted with the outcome.

“From the former Mahon Community Association chairman, Finbarr Murphy, whose contribution to this success was quite remarkable, to the current officers of the association, there has been huge support for this initiative and the dividend is now there,” he said.

FÁS’s south west regional director, Pat O’ Callaghan, said the same training model will be used on other large construction projects in the region.

A further 400 jobs will be created later this year when all the elements of the nearby Mahon Point Retail Park open for business.

It is predicted that up to 6,000 jobs will be created when the entire €500m Mahon Point project, which includes a four-star 200 bedroom hotel, is completed in 2009.

Cork City Council is likely to get around €3m a year in rates income from the development.