On the radio the past couple of weeks there have been advertisements… “The Face of Belfast Has Changed”, “Temptation on Every Level” all this has been building the hype for the opening of the new Victoria Square complex in Belfast city centre. 

 Costing £320 million, and taking 6 years to build, it contains shops, restaurants and when finished will also have a 12 screen odeon cinema.

I didn’t head down for the big opening ceremony, I just took a walk down this afternoon to have a look around the place, and it’s huge. There are some shops that Belfast already had, and some new stores such as Urban Outfitters and Fossil, and of course the anchor store House of Fraser.

 A couple of things struck me about the place, first of all the size. It is massive, one of the largest developments in Northern Ireland. The other thing is the price of stuff, there are some shops like Zavvi, that are priced reasonably, but Urban Outfitters is so over priced, a printed T-Shirt costs £30, ($60) for a T Shirt… crazy…

There is a dome at the top of the centre with a viewing platform giving pretty cool views of Belfast and will probably be even better at night time.

Different events had been put on this morning, music and gymnasts etc, but of course the opening day did have its problems as well…

There was no sign of where the Apple store is going to be, and there are still quite a few units not completed or opened, but when it is totally finished I reckon it will be pretty sweet…

Northern Ireland’s first minister Ian Paisley is to stand down from the post in May, he has announced.He also said he would be resigning as leader of the DUP, a party he has led for almost 40 years. He will continue as MP and MLA for North Antrim.

Im not sure what to make of this, obviously Paisley is getting on in years, nearly 82, and no one expected him to stay in office of First Minister very long, but even still this has come as a surprise to me, and many others…regardless of what your views on Big Ian and his policies are, its the end of an era… here’s a little clip of folks on the hill [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHCppOWhuv0]

 Growing up in Northern Ireland you are always hearing about bomb alerts, and threats of attacks etc… but to be honest it never really had a huge inpact in my life. Im too young to know what the worst of it was like…

Recently in NI things have been really moving forward, with government being established and progress being made, so it is a little surreal to see this…

and to hear that the PSNI have set up armed checkpoints across the country to try and prevent a possible attack from dissident republican.

Hopefully it doesn’t amount to anything, i reckon the majority of the people in NI don’t want to return to the days of violence.

Hollywood actor Heath Ledger has been found dead at his home in Manhattan.”He was found unconscious at the apartment and pronounced dead,” the New York Police Department said

read more here

I think I might watch 10 Things I Hate About You, sometime… it’s one of my favourite movies when I was a young teeneager…