Police in Northern Ireland put in place a major traffic management system for the opening of Ireland's first IKEA.
Thousands of shoppers were expected as the home furnishing store opened in east Belfast .
Until now, over 50,000 people a year, many of them from the Republic, travelled through Larne to shop at the IKEA stores in Scotland.
This is the global giant's first store on the island of Ireland, and is the biggest in the UK with around 9,100sq.m.
Over 6,000 cars were expected at the east Belfast outlet today.
The store's car parks can only hold 2,000 vechicles, so police have in place a traffic management plan involving the PSNI helicopter, and say they will close access to the shop beside the already very busy Bangor Road if gridlock ensues.
