The proposed "lifestyle village" will incorporate a multiplex cinema, health clinic, office space, retail units and an iconic building. The project is due for completion in 2009 subject to planning permission.

Parker Green is headed up by Gerard O'Hare and is best known for its Quays shopping centre in Newry. The company recently put the Fairgreen Shopping Centre in Carlow up for sale with a guide of 70 million. With tenants including Heatons, Argos, River Island, Next and New Look, the centre produces a rent roll of over 3 million annually.

The developers also have significant interests abroad including a $150 million waterfront development in North Carolina and a number of projects in Eastern Europe, particularly in Bratislava The Waterford Crystal lands adjacent to the Ballybeg estate had been rezoned from recreational to commercial prior to the purchase.

"There are over three thousand people residing in this area and with the planned future development of 1,200 new homes under the current area plan, this project can become a nucleus for this expanding community, " says O'Hare.

"Over the 10-year period that these lands will be developed, we expect to create over a thousand jobs with at least four hundred jobs in the first phase of the development.

"I think our proposed design is a breath of fresh air in comparison to standard tin-roofed retail parks. The centre court consists of a sunken amphitheatre and an iconic crystal-like building designed to reflect Waterford Crystal."