The new precinct which has taken five years to develop is a state-of-the-art shopping mall comprising 110,000sq ft of retail space spanning two levels.

Designed by Dublin and Galway-based Douglas Wallace Architects, the mall has 28 two-storey shops, a juice bar, coffee shop and restaurant.

The covered mall has an elaborate glazed roof, sixmetres high and has been designed with double-height entrances to ensure maximum natural light penetration. The area is floored and decorated throughout with Jura limestone. The centrepiece of the mall is a winding staircase leading to a first and second-floor coffee shop, which overlooks O'Connell Street.

The architects have sympathetically married the building's original frontage, which faces onto O'Connell Street, with a galleria style pedestrian mall, leading onto the Wine Street car park.

Johnston Court is local developers Ray and Eileen Monahan's first major retail project. "We are delighted with the finished product, " Ray Monahan says. The retail units have been marketed by Douglas Newman Good Commercial with significant high street names already on board including Elverys, Virgin, Esprit Black, Sony, Pamela Scott, H Samuel, Peter Mark, Costa Coffee and a number of the best seller labels, as well as enterprising local retailers, already operating international franchises in the town.

Sligo Borough Council has given planning permission for a multi-storey car park with 456 spaces as part of the development and construction is expected to commence shortly.