It is eight years since Arnotts and Boundary Capital revealed their plans for the “Northern Quarter” – an elaborate proposal that was meant to shake up the shopping precinct around Dublin’s O’Connell and Henry streets to set it up for the 21st century.

The Northern Quarter was designed to cash in on the fact that the area was one of Europe’s busiest retail districts. According to some estiamtes at the time, it was attracting shoppers at a similar rate to London’s Oxford Street.

Arnotts and the properties it bought, the nearby Irish Independent building and a Henry Street block purchased from insurer RSA, were meant to be at the centre of the quarter, which was going to radically alter Dublin’s city centre north of the Liffey.

Had it all worked out, Boundary and Arnotts intended that that the quarter would have opened for business in 2012. Instead, the financial crash and the property collapse intervened. Arnotts now belongs to Noel Smyth’s Fitzwilliam Finance Partners.

The property company plans to close Boyers, as it could not find a retailer willing to take it on.

The proposed closure of that store follows the far more sudden move to shut Clerys in June.

The departure of two long-standing names, albeit for different reasons, could well shake confidence in city centre retailing at a time when investors should be moving back in.

A Northern Quarter-style proposal is likely to be far too elaborate – and risky – but if the capital’s retail district is to fend off competition from outlying malls and maintain its popularity with shoppers, some form of long-term plan now looks to be needed.