Aldi has lodged plans to open a store in Shannon as part of a €160m investment which also includes another Limerick outlet.

A planning application has been lodged with Clare County Council for a new Aldi store which would be located on the Airport Rd close to the town centre. It includes a 1,315 square metre store along with an additional retail unit.

Approximately 80 construction jobs and 20 permanent posts would be created, a spokesperson for Aldi stated.

Regional Manager at Aldi, Adam Ward said the German supermarket chain was very excited about the prospect of coming to Shannon. They currently have stores in Ennis, Ennistymon, Killaloe and Kilrush.

Planning for a smaller Aldi development in Shannon were rejected by both Clare County Council and An Bord Pleanála in August 2017.

Cllr Donna McGettigan (SF) is hopeful the latest application is given the green light. “I remember meeting Mike McKee held in August 2017 when they were refused planning permission and the anger surrounding it at the time. I couldn’t understand even then the reasoning why it was refused when the inspector of An Bord Pleanála recommended that it be given the go ahead.

“I know people that travel outside of Shannon to go to Aldi, why not bring Aldi here and keep those people here shopping, that makes sense to me. Why have a town centre that is locked up at night, why not have a high street, bringing in more shops can only be good and it’s also good that Aldi have confidence in our town. More shops may follow and it would be good for Shannon to have a high street,” she stated.

Separately, Aldi has also lodged plans for a new stores at Roches St in the centre of Limerick City. It would be their fourth opening in Co Limerick. More than 4,000 people are employed in Aldi’s 142 stores in the Republic of Ireland.