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Up to 1,000 jobs will be created if the proposal is approved, with another 1,000 during the construction phase.

THE economy might be on a slippery slope, but there's no recession on the horizon for a company planning a €100m indoor ski slope for the capital.

And anyone looking for a lift in these straitened economic times will be able to enjoy winter fun from autumn 2010 when the Snowtopia@onefivewest opens in west Dublin featuring 'real' snow.

Yesterday Twinlite, the construction company behind the massive Tyrrelstown housing development which is near the site of the ski slope, unveiled ambitious plans for a resort which will draw 1.5 million visitors and contribute €30m a year to the economy.

The move comes on the back of growth in the skiing holiday sector, which sees about 70,000 people take to the piste every year.

"It's fairly ambitious but there's five centres like this in the UK," Twinlite's finance director Rick Larkin said yesterday.

"Tyrrelstown is a new community, and it needs more of a destination to it. Dublin doesn't have anything like this and the biggest market will be people who don't know how to ski. There is a huge number of recreational skiers and the UK experience is people come during the year."

Snowtopia@onefivewest will be the largest adventure building of its kind in the country and will cover a 53,000 square metre site.

Up to 1,000 jobs will be created if the proposal is approved, with another 1,000 during the construction phase.

It will consist of two ski slopes - a nursery slope of 95m and a main slope of 190m with total snow cover of 11,000 square metres.

A rock and ice climbing area 23 metres in height, a playground, paintball adventure centre and a 10-screen digital cinema are included in the plans along with restaurants, cafes and car parking for 840 cars.

The centre will be located beside the One Five West retail park and the Park Plaza hotel, which is already open.

"This is an Irish invest-ment in a sustainable entertainment business and is exactly the type of innovation we need to help our economy grow," Mr Larkin said.

He said a 90-minute visit would cost about €25, and "lesson packs" would be available. Feeder buses would take customers from the Phoenix Park station two miles away.

Paul Melia