More than 15,000 visit Belfast Ikea

More than 15,000 shoppers visited Belfast's new Ikea shop during its first day of trading.

More than 15,000 shoppers visited Belfast's new Ikea shop during its first day of trading.

Visitors camped overnight, and organisers provided entertainment, including stilt walkers, jugglers and face painters.

The first customers though the door received a £500 voucher and a bouquet of flowers.

The east Belfast shop, Ikea's first in Ireland, is the size of five-and-a-half football fields. Police mounted a traffic operation to cope with large volumes near the Holywood Exchange.

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First and Deputy First Ministers Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness helped Belfast Lord Mayor Jim Rodgers perform the opening ceremony.

PA