The Donaghmede Shopping Centre is a bit of an oddity. It hasn't had much more than a lick of paint on the outside since it was built; but has had multiple internal refits - the late 90s red marble and gold look from last time I was there had been replaced by a light colours and stripped pine look. It has large independent stores serving the roles usually done by chains - book shop, sports store, toy shop. It has generally managed to hold on to a decent range and number of retailers - even though there are some empty stores - when some other outer suburbs have had their original 60s/70s shopping centres demolished due to dereliction. Gay Byrne does their radio ads, decades after he stopped being a mainstream radio personality - though this is possibly due to the connection to Mike Murphy via the centres owners Harcourt.
One part of that oddity is that is still has a pub accessible from the main mall. The main way in to the Donaghmede Inn is via its outside doors though. These are covered in branded contravision currently, and generally make it quite hard to tell if the pub is open or not.
Inside, on the main floor, there is one huge space with a single central bar area. There's various different types of seating areas, including a zone laid out ever so vaguely like a school science lab - tall tables, stools on one side - in front of the big screen. I think there's a downstairs music bar also, but there doesn't seem to be anything recent about its operation
In what were the outer suburbs at the time of their construction, its normal for bars to be Really Very Large, and this is no exception. This is the only pub in Donaghmede, with significant distances in any direction to the next nearest (due North, although not covering particularly populated areas, has no pubs for nearly four miles!), and its location means there wouldn't be much passing or outside trade at any stage. It isn't the most appealing place to go for a pint; but if you've no other choice...
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