Belfast Apple Store opened today, on the island of Ireland

The latest Apple Store opened today in Belfast, Northern Ireland – with local schoolchildren getting access to it ahead of the opening.

The location of the store is carefully described as being “on the island of Ireland” rather than “in Ireland” …

The island of Ireland

The complexity of the situation is such that almost any explanation is likely to offend somebody, even when offered by a man who has dual British and Irish citizenship.

The short version is that Belfast is the capital of Northern Ireland, which is part of the UK, while the rest of the island comprises the Republic of Ireland, a sovereign state otherwise known as Eire.

The term ‘Ireland’ can be ambiguous, and dictionaries offer two definitions – the island and the country – but it’s advisable to be specific when referring to the island.

Belfast is the latest Apple Store

The Irish News reports that the Belfast store is a new build, part of a new retail complex.

The tech giant’s new build unit at Belfast’s Cornmarket will open to the public at 9am on Friday morning as the retailer ends its 16-year relationship with the Victoria Square shopping complex […]

Apple becomes the latest new tenant of ‘The Keep’, the new retail complex developed by Alterity Investments on the former BHS site, which spans the block between Belfast’s Castle Lane and Cornmarket.

While it only opened today, some schoolchildren got early access.

The first members of the public to experience the new store are pupils from St Oliver Plunkett Primary School in Belfast, who took part in a special coding session on Thursday morning.

Apple said the ‘Learn to Code with Swift Playgrounds’ is in recognition of Europe code week, which aims to bring coding and digital literacy to everybody in a fun and engaging way.

As always with Apple Stores, it runs on 100% renewable energy, and the company says that it also uses more sustainable materials.

There’s a dedicated Apple Pickup area, a now-standard feature of more recent stores, allowing customers who place online orders for store pickup to have a faster and smoother experience.

The store also features an area dedicated to Vision Pro.

Check out the link for more photos.

Photo: Apple