Hopes for revival as town centre is sold

SWORDS Town Centre, which comprises 17 retail units, has been sold for €1,900,000.
The property was sold at a recent Allsop Space auction but for data control reasons the buyers cannot be named.
Swords Town Centre is located at Lynnwood just off Main Street.
The sale will be welcome news for the town as trade on Main Street has been in decline for a number of years.
Trade on the street has suffered because of the recession.
Regenerating of the street and the centre has been a priority with many local representatives.
The matter was a key issue during the local elections in May.
Deputy Alan Farrell (FG) welcomed the news, and is hopeful the sale will help to create jobs in Swords.
He said: “There are a lot of retail premises on Main Street empty, unfortunately.
“That’s a sign of the times and the effects of the recession.
“The sale of retail units en masse like that is probably a positive, because it will hopefully result in investment by the owners to bring it up to standard.
“It’s the same across pretty much all areas outside of the city centre.
“There is a commercial decline, so investment is obviously welcome and hopefully it will result in improvement to the facilities and much needed jobs for Swords.”
Cllr Darragh Butler (FF) has been highlighting the plight of Swords Main Street for some time.
He said: “It’s good to see any sort of confidence in the Swords Main Street area.
“I’d like to see some of the vacant properties on the street taken over and invested in.”
Fingal Chamber of Commerce chief executive Tony Lambert also welcomed the news.
He said: “During the recent recession, which was very difficult, trading on Main Street, Swords, was very difficult as [it was] in most other main streets in towns throughout the country.
“However, in recent times there have been some changes which would indicate that there is going to be better trading for Main Street, Swords, in the time ahead.
“Weatherspoons have bought the Old Boro pub, which is a huge pub, and what was the Slaughtered Lamb pub has now been bought and is undergoing a multi-million euro overhaul and will be open before Christmas.
“There is also good news in that more units seem to be purchased now, which would give an indication that there is money coming back into the street which would lead to shops reopening.
“The town centre is one of those areas that was recently sold and hopefully this will generate new retail activity for the whole of the Main Street.”