Ikea has conceded that its ambition of opening in Dublin by August next year will not now be achieved.
UK manager Peter Högsted said in east Belfast yesterday at the opening of the first Ikea store on the island of Ireland that it hoped the Ballymun store would be ready by February 2009.
Mr Högsted conceded, however, that if the Ballymun interchange junction of the M50 was not completed by then the opening could be further delayed.
Ikea's "worst, worst, worst case scenario" was that the store might not open until the winter of 2009 - two years from now, he told The Irish Times.
First Minister Ian Paisley and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness were two of the early visitors to the store yesterday morning, pronouncing that it was an important commercial development for Northern Ireland, and an augury of positive investment to come.
Mr Högsted contrasted the "fun day" enjoyed by VIPs and the general public alike at the opening of the 29,000 sq m store at Holywood Exchange with the "bureaucratic" complications that were delaying Ikea's arrival in the Republic. "Unfortunately right now people in Dublin need to take the bus to Belfast to buy Ikea," he said.
In June Ikea received planning permission to build its Dublin store but subject to 30 conditions, including the requirement that the Ballymun interchange be completed.
Even in June Ikea hoped that its Dublin store could open by August next year but yesterday Mr Högsted accepted this was not now possible. "We've never had so many conditions that we need to fulfil to open a retail store," said Mr Högsted.
Nonetheless, the company was determined to push ahead with its Dublin plans. "We will meet the conditions. We know that there is a great demand for home furnishing in general, and Ikea specifically, in Dublin so we are very much looking forward to come to Dublin."
There were concerns that the Ikea Belfast opening would lead to traffic snarl-ups around the city. However, everything ran smoothly yesterday, with crowds at a manageable level - although that situation could change when weekend Christmas shoppers travel to Ikea.
Mr Högsted said the relatively comfortable traffic flow in east Belfast yesterday indicated that the National Roads Authority had "for sure" overestimated the level of disruption that the Dublin store would cause.
Mr Högsted, a Dane, said he expected to hear shortly the official latest predicted timescale for the completion of the Ballymun interchange, after which there should be more clarity about the opening date.
In the meantime preparatory work for the Dublin store, which would be slightly bigger than the Belfast one, and would have the biggest Ikea selling space on these islands, was proceeding.
About 500 people queued outside Ikea Belfast for its formal opening just minutes before 10am yesterday. Ikea said it deliberately did not put on any major sales offers in order to avoid traffic and crowd congestion.
The 270th Ikea store was formally opened by Belfast lord mayor Jim Rodgers and store manager Paul Reid who completed the sawing of a log, a traditional company opening.
Dr Paisley said the opening was a "good day for Belfast and good for us all". It meant that Northern Ireland "was up and going" and was "going to make it to the top".
