BREAKING: Major development on issue of 'long standing concern' in Kilkenny

Cllr Pat Dunphy has welcomed the granting of planning permission for the redevelopment of Ferrybank Shopping Centre in South Kilkenny, which he stated has been an issue of 'long standing concern in the area' for approximately 20 years.

"I wish to thank Better Value Unlimited (Dunnes Stores), Kilkenny County Council officials, local councillors and local people for their ongoing and continuous efforts in bringing the Ferrybank Shopping Centre to this stage," he added.

"Hopefully work will proceed as soon as possible."

FURTHER DETAILS

After nearly two decades of lying largely dormant, Ferrybank Shopping Centre in South Kilkenny is finally poised to spring into life.

Kilkenny County Council has granted conditional planning permission for the redevelopment of Ferrybank Shopping Centre. The decision was made on August 25, 2025.

The application was submitted by Better Value Unlimited Company on July 1, 2025.

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It seeks to change the use and amalgamate an unoccupied car showroom and an adjacent fire service corridor with the existing retail anchor unit on the ground floor.

This will create a single-level anchor unit, which will include 3,000 square metres of convenience floorspace, an ancillary off-licence, and 2,042 square metres of comparison floorspace.

The basement storage and goods area will remain unchanged. In total, the new anchor unit will measure around 7,558 square metres across the basement and ground floor.

The plan also provides for the repurposing of the first floor, which had originally been intended for comparison goods, into a separate leisure unit measuring approximately 3,140 square metres.

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Access to this leisure space will be from the first-floor mall level. The development will also involve associated site works and new elevation signage for the anchor store.

The council attached four conditions to the approval. Submissions on the application were accepted until August 4, 2025 - with none received.

Built in 2008 at a cost of approximately €100 million, the centre never opened fully, leaving most of the development vacant, save for a library and a county council office.

Back in January 2025, Dunnes Stores agreed to meet with Kilkenny County Council to discuss the site’s future and its role in the emerging Ferrybank/Belview masterplan.

Council officials later confirmed that Dunnes had engaged with the masterplan and had started to participate in discussions.

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Councillors described this as “a start”, albeit without yet any firm timeline for reopening. 

Fast-forward to June and July 2025, when the story gathered real momentum. Pre-planning consultations confirmed that Dunnes was moving towards a formal application, and hopes were high that tangible progress would soon follow.

That hope has now paid off with Kilkenny County Council granting conditional planning permission to Dunnes Stores to redevelop the centre, with a view to opening it in the near future.

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