Here at last.

Well, Ikea Dublin opened today. Hurrah, hurrah, hurrah!

We have, over the years, like thousands of Irish people, travelled to Manchester, Bristol, London, Brussels and Belfast, all in search of that wonderful Swedish stuff. We were bitterly disappointed when Belfast was chosen over Dublin a couple of years ago, and we thought then that we had missed our chance.

But today, all our birthdays came together!

Sounds trite? Well it's not, because as far as our household is concerned, Ikea products just do the biz. Here are 5 things I like about Ikea stuff:

1. They're cheap.

2. They're well designed.

3. They last.

4. They have more than one function where possible.

5. They're easy to assemble (even for non-diy'ers like us).

So, of course, we had to head out there today, myself and the girls. We thought we'd escape the initial rush, so went out for 3pm.

In true Ikea style, traffic was well-managed, you were directed to the next available parking spot, they were giving out Chokladflarn in the (short) queue, all the tills were open. I could just go on and on.

At one point, I looked out the window (though Ikea was described in one of our newspapers as a "windowless box") and I could see the Dublin mountains in the distance- I simply couldn't believe that at last I was in Ikea in my own city!

We got some shelves for daughter's bedroom, now we have to get hold of the carpenter to put them up. In contrast to our best efforts, his shelves don't fall down.

We didn't buy very much, knowing that we can come back tomorrow, and the next day if we want. All our other visits, mainly to kit out bedrooms for start of secondary-school, were time-managed to the last. We either had a ferry or a flight to catch, and we had a specific list, with measurements of each item and of our car. Then, as closing time would approach, we'd make a last-minute dash to grab a few extra things, knowing that the next visit was probably a year away.

You know, I think I will go back over tomorrow, just for the sheer hell of it!