Town centre development of indoor shopping malls in major towns and cities. Examples include the Manchester Arndale Centre, the St. James Centre in Edinburgh and the Bullring Centre in Birmingham. They tended to be constructed in a Brutalist or Modernist fashion reflecting the architectural styles of the period. During the Thatcher government of the 1980s, a change in planning policy allowed competing out-of-town shopping and leisure centres to be developed. Examples include the Metro Centre in Gateshead, the Merry Hill Shopping Centre in Dudley, and the Gyle Centre in Edinburgh. Developments of this type have, in a number of places, resulted in
Courtyard Shopping Centre November 2018 has 25 stores, with the anchor tenants being Eason and Heatons. The north-west's premier chippy, the 4 Lanterns, also has an outlet overlooking the Main Street entrance. The shopping centre was seriously affected by the recession and economic problems in Ireland in the late 2000s. Many stores closed, some businesses failed, and many stores decided to move to the Letterkenny Shopping Centre in Port Road of the town. The Letterkenny Shopping Centre has seen a rise in the numbers shopping there, but the Courtyard has seen their numbers drop. However the centre is still very popular with shoppers