Sandyford

Infobox Irish Place
name = Sandyford
gaeilge = Áth an Ghainimh
crest

motto =
map

pin coords = left: 100px; top: 92px
north coord = 53.27
west coord = 6.225
irish grid = O179300
area =
elevation =
county = Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown
town pop = 5,844
rural pop =
census yr = 2006
web = www.dlrcoco.ie

Sandyford ( _ga. Áth an Ghainimh) is a suburb of Dublin, located in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County, Ireland. A major part of Sandyford today is comprised of the Sandyford Industrial Estate and related developments.

Location and access

Sandyford village itself lies just south of the M50 motorway, accessed from junction 13. At the heart of the old village is a traditional square, including a monument to the working men of the village, "Pater and Ned". ["Pater and Ned", 1996, is a bronze sculpture by the Irish sculptor Rowan Gillespie, standing 2.4m tall.] The industrial estate is just north of the motorway. The depot for the Luas "Green Line" is located on the eastern edge of Sandyford Industrial Estate, as are two stops, "Stillorgan" and the terminus "Sandyford".

Commerce

"Sandyford Industrial Estate" is one of the largest industrial estates in Dublin.
The estate is notable as the location of the terminal halt and the works depot of the Luas Green Line. It also contains the Stillorgan halt 500m Northwest of the terminus. The industrial estate has been revamped by the construction of many office and apartment blocks such as the Beacon South Quarter development which consists of the Beacon Hotel and Beacon Hospital. Recently a shopping centre has opened as part of the "Beacon South Quarter" which has a Dunnes Stores as the anchor tenant. The "Sandyford Motor Park" is one of the biggest car dealerships in the county, with such car dealers as Mazda, Renault, Jaguar and Saab plus one of the best known used car dealers on the southside of the city. Central Park is another office park in the Sandyford area with companies such as Vodafone Ireland and a new Bewleys Hotel. New office and apartment developments are currently under construction at Central Park.

An extension of the Luas Green Line is being built through the Industrial Estate and "Central Park" will be the first stop on the extended line.

Beacon Tower, completed in 2007, is the tallest building in Sandyford at 15 storeys. Recently Dun Laoghaire–Rathdown published the Sandyford Urban Area Plan which allows for landmark buildings near the Stillorgan reservoir. The landmarks will be between 14 and 32 stories high.

The offices of Microsoft Ireland which employ approximately 1,200 people are located at the estate, this is the EMEA Operations Centre which was located in Ireland since 1985 and carries out a variety of activities including development and translation of Microsoft products.

Other companies in the Industrial Estate

* American Airlines
* Canon
* Barclaycard
* Novell
* Vodafone Ireland

Other enterprises in Sandyford

* The Irish Management Institute has its headquarters in a parkland setting in northern Sandyford. The IMI has the most extensive management training facility in Ireland, and has residential capacity. It offers full-time and part-time courses up to degree level, and customised programmes in business management.
* The Irish Mint, a division of the Central Bank of Ireland, which has been in operation since 1976, is also located in Sandyford, across the M50 just north of the village.

Politics

Sandyford is part of the South Dublin Dáil constituency.

Sports

Sandyford is home to the Meteors Ladies' Basketball Club. The club was founded in 1965, and celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2006. [cite web | title=Meteors Ladies' Basketball Club | work= | url=http://meteor.teo.ie| accessdate=]

Naomh Olaf Gaelic Athletic Association Club is located in the SIE. It was founded in 1981. The club has teams from under eight up to senior level, and also operate an academy for boys and girls from four through seven years of age. [cite web | title=Naomh Olaf GAA | work= | url=http://www.naomholaf.com/ | accessdate=]

Sandyford is also well known for its cricket team. [cite web |title=Sandyford Cricket Club | work= | url=http://www.sandyfordcc.org/ | accessdate=]

People

Famous residents of Sandyford include radio personality Ray D'Arcy, singer/songwriter Paul Brady, and retired comedian Hal Roach, while Aaron Kennedy, the former Formula 1 driver and RTÉ and Setanta Sports commentator lived for many years on Sandyford Road.

Frank Aiken (died 1983), a founder member of Fianna Fáil lived in Sandyford and a local housing development called "Aiken's Village" is built on what was his land.

See also

* List of towns in Ireland.

References

External links

* [http://www.sandyford.com Official SIE Website]

Luas halts

Stillorgan Halt
###@@@KEYEND@@@###

Sandyford Halt
###@@@KEYEND@@@###