Belfast tonight took another major step towards normality with the removal of the final security barriers within the city centre.
Barriers, erected during the Troubles to thwart paramilitary attacks, were dismantled from outside the bus station in Glengall Street and near Jury's Hotel on the Grosvenor Road.
Other barriers, including one at the junction of the city's main shopping thoroughfare Royal Avenue and North Street, have also been dismantled over the past week.
The move was welcomed by Northern Ireland Office Social Development Minister David Hanson and by Joanne Jennings of Belfast City Centre management as a further sign of Belfast's development as a modern, vibrant European city.
Mr Hanson said the disappearance of the barriers would help stimulate more
confidence in the city.