54.994°N 7.318°W / 54.994; -7.318

Foyleside Shopping Centre is a shopping centre in Derry, Northern Ireland. Construction started in the early 1990s and the centre opened on 25 September 1995. As of April 2023 the centre is 98% let across 50 units.^[4] The centre is spread over a 6.99 acre site in the city centre of Derry. The centre is anchored by Marks & Spencer, Frasers & Dunnes Stores.

The shopping centre is built into the centre of the city and although it is not on the bank, it does overlook the River Foyle.

The project to build a shopping centre in the North West of Northern Ireland which would become Foyleside was envisioned in 1988 as part of a powerful regeneration campaign for the City of Derry. It was the result of campaigning by local politicians to attract the attention and investment of private firms. According to a local newspaper article in 1995 Northern Ireland Minister Richard Needham had convinced Marks & Spencer to co-anchor the centre project alongside Dunnes Stores. MP John Hume in the same article also voices praise on the economic benefits such as the employment that the new centre would bring and its effort in improving the image of the city and the North Wests image of a regional shopping destination. The centre opened on 25 September 1995 at 11 am.^[5]

The centre is a four level building constructed over numerous former streets made possible by the steep geography of the banks of the River Foyle which is characteristic of Derry. The centre is over 33,500 square metres in size. A glass dome above the central atrium of the mall serves as a focal point. A custom built Kone glass elevator is the centrepiece and originally overlooked a water fountain which was removed in 2016.^[6]

Foyleside has two on premise parking facilities. Opened in 1995 along with the centre is Foyleside West Car Park, The West Car Park is adjoined and integrated into the main shopping centre although is an independent reinforced concrete structure. Foyleside East Car Park was opened later and is joint to the main shopping centre by a glazed walkway bridge. The total parking capacity of the centre is 1,520 car parking spaces in a multi-storey format.^[13]

A local car valeting service operates in both car parks offering car wash, valet and parking for shoppers.^[14]

Between 2020 and 2022 the East Car Park offered a 24-hour service but has since been discontinued.^[15]

During the construction of the Debenhams extension in 2003 a construction worker was killed by a falling staircase.^[16]

In 2006 during renovation work at the former Kylemore Café on Level 3 to add an additional mezzanine floor for a new River Island store considerable noise and disruption upset nearby residents. Similar concerns were shared in 2008 when the Food Quarter expansion was built. The centre responded by offering to meet with concerned residents and assured the public that it was carrying out the work according to Road Service and noise regulations.^[17]

On 11 September 2016 a nearby lorry which was servicing a Poundland retail location was left unattended early in the morning. A local man had climbed into the lorry and released the handbrake, causing it to roll back unattended along Newmarket Street and crash into Foyleside Shopping Centre damaging the Debenhams glass tunnel bridge and the corner of a fire exit stairwell. This was repaired and no major damage or injuries occurred. The person responsible was later prosecuted.^[18]

There have been various reports of sexual activity happening in the Foyle Street toilet facilities of the centre. In 2016 wooden panels were installed at these facilities in an attempt to curb this activity. Centre management have increased cleaning and monitoring activity across the centre in response to this issue and actively welcome any report of issues from visitors. There have been numerous prosecutions of people engaging in this activity with Foyleside cited as the location of the incident.^[19]

In 2014, it was announced that developers had approached Derry City Council with the intention of developing a new Foyleside block which would include an extra 235,000 square footage of retail space, as well as a nine screen cinema and 67,000-square-foot (6,200 m²) of office space. This has the potential to create 500 construction jobs and 300 permanent jobs if allowed to proceed. This development would cost in the region of £100 million.^[20] Further to this Minister for Regional Development, Conor Murphy has hinted that he would welcome any plans for the relocation of the current railway station to the east bank of the Peace Bridge, which officially opened on Saturday 25 June 2011.^[21][22]