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“IT’S A VERY welcoming place to be. You start to recognise familiar faces very fast.”
John Chatten is manager of Citywest Shopping Shopping Centre. Citywest is his workplace, but it’s also a place where he sees a real sense of community.
“I meet lots of families in the centre, especially at the weekends, though during the week it would be more professional types. Pre-Covid, the community room here was used by lots of local groups: knitting clubs, mother and toddler groups, and so on. That was always lovely to see.”
Citywest, bordered by Saggart to the west and Tallaght to the east, is truly a town of the modern age. While older Irish towns tended to grow around features that appealed to early industry, like rivers for fishing or ports for loading cargo, Citywest expanded around the luxury hotel and 120-acre business campus of the same name.
Those were built in the 1990s, and although it took another 15 or 20 years for the area’s residential population to start growing, Citywest has been making up for lost time since then. Over 8,000 residents called the area home in the 2016 Census. There are plenty of local amenities on hand too, from supermarkets to cafés to schools (there are three primary schools in the area, and a new secondary school, Coláiste Pobail Fola, opened in 2020), to the business campus which is home to over 180 companies.
By the time the next Census rolls around, that population figure is likely to be far higher. There’s new development happening all the time – and Barnoaks from Glenveagh Homes will soon be the newest addition to that list.
Located right next to Citywest Shopping Centre and within walking distance of the business campus, Barnoaks will feature a mix of two, three and four bedroom homes. It’s due for launch in the first half of 2022, and you can register your interest here.
If you’re looking for urban convenience at a reasonable price, could Citywest tick the boxes? We asked some locals to weigh in…
Rita Kelly lives at Tassagard Green, a few minutes walk from Citywest Hotel. She grew up in nearby Jobstown and returned to the area around 15 years ago after rearing her family in Rathfarnham. She can remember life before Citywest, before even Tallaght and its suburbs had properly sprung up.
“I remember from our house down to the village we had two neighbours,” she recalls. “The growth in the recent past has been phenomenal.”
Rita is chairperson of Saggart Tidy Towns, and when she’s not working you’ll find her supervising cleanups or organising for the painting of murals to brighten up the already bustling Saggart village, a seven minute drive from the business campus. One project she’s excited about for 2022 is the adding of greenery and flowers to the roundabout at Millrace, at the southwest corner of Citywest Hotel – an initiative made possible with the help of Glenveagh Homes.
“It’s going to look glorious,” she says. It’s great to see so much life and colour around the place.”
Seán runs Citywest Life, a local news blog and Facebook group. He’s lived here for four years, and enjoys the high level of convenience that the area offers. “You have great ease of access to the N7 and M50, and there are public transport links to the city and elsewhere.”
But Citywest offers plenty of reasons to stick around too, he adds, from “artisan cafés and restaurants” to the beautiful walking routes, landscaped park areas and lake that dot the business campus. Riverwalk, one of Seán’s favourite spots on the campus, has a distinct old world feel with its tall leafy trees and a series of mini waterfalls – but fear not, you can grab a coffee or a bite to eat while you’re there too.
Blathnaid Molloy is club secretary at St Mary’s GAA Club, which covers Saggart, Rathcoole and Citywest. It’s one of the fastest growing clubs in the country, with a strong youth membership. St Mary’s is a real community hub, says Blathnaid, who grew up in the area and has had a lifelong involvement in the GAA:
There’s a great spirit of inclusivity at the club. For us, the main thing is that everyone has a smile on their face. We’ve seen as adults that the friendships you build from GAA stay with you for life, and we want the kids to experience that too.
St Mary’s is a participant in Gaelic4Girls, a multi-week programme combining coaching sessions with non-competitive blitzes. Sponsored by Glenveagh Homes, it’s designed to bring more female players to GAA at a young age.
“What I love about the programme is that the element of fun really shines through,” says Blathnaid. “Everyone is treated the same regardless of their experience or age, and it’s a chance to come together and enjoy the sport.”
Philip Masterson opened Lean Bean, a café selling quick and healthy meal options, on Citywest Business Campus five years ago. It’s a busy, buzzing place to work, he says:
“We get a huge amount of loyal, regular customers. We’re very lucky in that they’re all so friendly – we genuinely like them!”
Philip’s customer base initially consisted of people working on the campus – “a mix of professionals, other business owners and sales reps passing through” – but he’s seen the dynamic shift over the last two years.
“We would get a lot more residents coming in here now, who might just come for a walk around the campus with their kids or their dogs. During summer 2020 in particular the place was so busy on weekends. We were getting new people in the door who might have been working in the city centre and not have known we existed.”
John Chatten of Citywest Shopping Centre gets the chance to see all sides of Citywest’s community at once, and he praises the area’s diversity. “There are families and older customers, and people working in so many different backgrounds, from IT staff to construction workers to nurses and doctors from Tallaght Hospital.”
Although not a resident himself, he can clearly see why so many choose to call Citywest home:
It’s an urban centre but its removed from the city so it’s affordable too. I think people are really beginning to see Citywest as a residential destination now. More and more people are becoming aware of it and considering it as a location to live in.
Considering making Citywest your new home? Barnoaks is coming soon, within walking distance of Citywest Business Campus. Register your interest here.
At Glenveagh Homes, our vision is that everyone should have the opportunity to access great-value, high-quality homes in flourishing communities across Ireland. We understand that buying a home is possibly the biggest decision you will ever make in your life – but we want to make it your easiest. Click here to find out more about Glenveagh developments.
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Still makes my blood boil even after 2 weeks and for that cretin Drumm to apologise for bad language is adding to insult. Try apologising for the shi*e storm you went a long way to starting Drumm and then you can get on the next flight home and face the consequences of your gluttony.
What makes my blood boil is our sad excuses of politicians have done nothing and will do nothing. There will be no consequences for those who caused this problem as there is no political appetite to hold those in authority to account.
kerry a lot of the decent people in this country will agree with you ,the problem is the politicians have never listened to the people ,the time has come to elect ones that will listen and not the vermin that we have.
The whole reason there’s been no action from the politicians on this is because they are up to their necks in it too. We didn’t just bail out Anglo you know. They are afraid to put the Anglo execs in the dock for fear of them bringing down the corrupt gangsters that ran the country then and now. Anglo was never a bank, it was a property hedge fund that lent to 25-30 developers. Why does a Govt need to bail out a hedge fund?
This type of old school arrogance is still prevalent in Irish banks, It can be seen with the refusal to pass on interest rate reductions to help the small person, And the new heavy handed repossessions culture backed by a so called the legal elite. You can be sure there will be no tapes in the future a new rule will come into place to erase everything after a month just wait and see.
@ Ucant, sadly, absolutely true.
They would love to have an Oireachtas investigation, personaly speaking I think politicians should be kept away from this. An international investigation lead by maybe a Judge from Iceland and an honest men like Stephen Donnelly and Dave Hall as abservers would be acceptable.
Why Iceland? And why Stephen Donnelly? Should observers not be independent also? Stephen Donnelly wouldn’t be independent considering the fact that he’s trying to fund a court case over the issue of banking guarantees. (Am I thinking of the right fellow?)
100% agree Thomas… No politician should left near this. FG/FF are too involved in the banks to be impartial and fair.
Enda Kenny knew about these tapes and kmows alot more but his dictatorship and propaganda machine is not releasing any info. Enda Kenny and company are as bad as the banks and anyone who thinks Enda didn’t know or Probably hear the tapea prior to the leak is either dumb or has fallen for the propaganda.
They were leaked now for political gain, fg couldnt help notice that ff were passing them in the polls, not to mention that by leaking them it hampers and criminal investigation (which was thoroughly stalled btw) on the off chance that senior bondholder noonan might have to find his wallet
Irish people are not apathetic. They care. The proble, is that Irish people are conformist, conventional, conservative and complaint. The Irish deserve their fate. The Irish are a shower of cs. That is our nature, with a few exceptions, and so that will be our fate.
The problem is not just that of a few cowboy bankers. The problem is much wider, much more ingrained and far more difficult to eradicate.
By all means put the bankers in the stocks. Obsess with them all you want. The Government will be delighted because that is a venting distraction and stil leaves the people compliant and supine.
A servile nation deserves no better. On your knees and stay there. Nothing will change. Moan and crib all you want. That will change nothing. You know it, but still you are content to whine about a few greedy and reckless bankers.
Yes a few sheeple did raise their heads, briefly, but mistaking the wolf for the shepherd they carried on believing there was no danger. For several years now every new revelation, in this sorry saga, would be the one to break the camels back or create such an outrage among the general population that a punch drunk citizenry would begin an heroic fightback……. No, nada, zilch, sfa! This must be the most apathetic nation under the sun! Incredible really.
My blood is boiling, and it isn’t because I’m in the vacuum of space.
I’ll vent my frustration at the demonstration on Dame Street today (Saturday the 6th), Central Bank Plaza, 2 to 5 or 6pm
If I don’t, I’m gonna blow a fifty amp fuse.
Hope to see you there. Yes, you.
Feck!
“My blood is boiling, and it isn’t because I’m in the vacuum of space.”
Just spat coffee on a white macbook, thanks Seamus.
Ah sure thats old news now….Its all about the goings on in Egypt now isn’t it????????Sheep
On two other articles, I noticed that 90% of those posting comments were enthusiastically and vigorously in favour of the banks repossession policy. This shows to me that criticism of the bankers is a superficial emotional reaction.
We criticise the bankers but most of us support the bankers’ campaign of repossession. We support that campaign even though it will crystallise the mortgage impairments, accelerate the insolvency if the banks and force the massive cost a second bank bail out on the ordinary taxpayer.
Criticism of the bankers is hypocrisy.
There is business and there is fraud.
The problem is the bakers married the two.
‘with the political correspondent coming out on top ‘, eh? no he didnt, he made an utter moron out of himself
The politicians are not the problem, the bankers are not the problem. THE PEOPLE ARE THE PROBLEM.
Bankers are nasty in other countries, politicians become arrogant and lost in a bubble in others.
The people though demand that they be held to account and that the law is applied to them.
People here do not do that. David Drumm, Sean Fitzpatrick, Bertie, Haughey, Micheal Martin, John Bowe etc it is the people/electorate who are letting them off and giving no sign of wanting anything but the current situation to continue.
Sunday Independent deserves to be ridiculed and spoken of with contempt. Irish Indo is only marginally better.
A paper full of stories with anonymous quotes and Fianna Failures like O’Dea and Bertie’s ex Larking. Less News than the Sunday World.
The underlying situation is that the majority of people in Ireland are still getting by. Lets be honest. Most of us are reading this off an iPhone or an iPad. Both luxury items. Yes we will give out, complain, post comments on social networking sites and even be astounded by the carry on of politicians and bankers. But the majority are not going hungry. So we will continue to absorb the Bulls**t being thrown at us. And until a time comes that the majority of people hit breaking point in Ireland ie. cannot top up there mobile phone accounts, cannot get out for a few pints on a Friday night, cannot order a Chinese when they want, cannot go to Spain for a cheap week, “the important stuff” etc etc you will not see an iota of unrest.
The Irish Attitude
” ah sure them bankers and politicians are all the same ”
Negative equity, mortgage arrears, property taxes, corrupt politicians, criminal bankers, bank bailouts, more bank bailouts, illegal house repossessions, legal house repossessions, evictions, job losses, suicide etc etc “sure we can’t do anything about it”
Take away your basics ie. mobile phones, sky sports, the car, the holiday, the few pints, the round of golf, the hair, nails and make up ” now that’s a different story altogether”
What these tapes mean; is our spineless polititions will finally get the fingure out and do something as its not only irish people who are disguted but the germans. And they sure as hell wont be ignored by our cretin politicos
The politicians are not the problem, the bankers are not the problem. THE PEOPLE ARE THE PROBLEM.
Bankers are nasty in other countries, politicians become arrogant and lost in a bubble in others.
The people though demand that they be held to account and that the law is applied to them.
People here do not do that. David Drumm, Sean Fitzpatrick, Bertie, Haughey, Micheal Martin, John Bowe etc it is the people/electorate who are letting them off and giving no sign of wanting anything but.
have your say