Ikea heads for Belfast
IKEA is finally on the way to Ireland.
Planning permission has been granted for the Swedish furniture retailers
first outlet in Belfast.
The news means that Belfast has beaten Dublin to house Ireland’s
first branch of Ikea — the store for style- conscious homeowners
working on a budget.
While a planning application is still pending for an outlet in Ballymun,
the British Government has already granted approval for a store at Holywood
Exchange in Co. Down, on the shores of Belfast Lough.
The Belfast Ikea will be one of the biggest retail warehouses in the North
and will lead to the creation of 500 jobs.
The proposed Ikea store in Dublin is also expected to employ 500 but construction
is not expected until after the Belfast store is finished in November
2007.
Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain hailed Ikea’s coming as great
news.
Ikea’s Ireland manager Theresa Daly said they were very happy to
have Ministerial approval for the Belfast store which will be the first
such store on the island of Ireland.
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