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.
