Thursday 28 December 2006

Ikea comes to Ireland

In case anyone didn't hear over Christmas, planning permission has been granted for Ireland's first IKEA store - in Belfast

IKEA is definitely coming to Ireland.

Planning permission's been granted for the Swedish lifestyle store's first outlet, in Belfast.

It looks like Belfast has beaten Dublin to it for Ireland's first branch of IKEA, the store for style conscious homeowners.

While a planning application is still pending for an outlet in Ballymun, the British government's granted approval for a store at Holywood Exchange in County Down, on the shores of Belfast Lough.

At 29,000 square metres it'll be one of the biggest retail warehouses in the North and will lead to the creation of five hundred jobs.

Northern Secretary Peter Hain's hailed IKEA's coming as great news with construction starting next month for a grand opening next November.

Plans for a slightly smaller store at Ballymun in north Dublin have yet to receive planning consent, creating the prospect of a cross-border pilgrimage by IKEA worshippers everywhere.

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