49 DAYS TO BREXIT

“At the same time, people across Northern Ireland responded really well. People came together and recognised the city was struggling and they didn’t want to see that happening anymore.

“Footfall in the city was up about 20% last Christmas. I think that was down to the fact that people made an effort to go into town to support the affected businesses.

“Unfortunately, that was only temporary and footfall went down again. We need to work hard to encourage people to come to the city.

“It does still look like the street is closed off. We’re working with a range of partners to see if the cordon or barrier can be reduced in size, particularly as we are coming up to the busiest time of year.

“The fire at Primark was the darkest hour in the city in a long, long time, but it proved how important retail is to the city centre.

“Retail is still at the heart of a vibrant and bustling city centre. It can’t just be about offices and a handful of shops — it has to be a mixture and retail is a huge part of that.”

Mr Hamilton also said reshaping the infrastructure of the city would play an important part in encouraging more people into Belfast, and pointed to the success of the Glider service, linking the west and east of the city.

“It shouldn’t just be about making everywhere pedestrian areas, but perhaps looking at making them more pedestrian and cycle-friendly,” he continued.

“I was in Zurich on holidays during the summer and they are really pedestrian-friendly.

“There are ways of making areas welcoming to pedestrians without closing them down to cars.”

Mr Hamilton also touched on the controversial subject of Sunday trading rules. “It isn’t just about extending opening hours and making it the same as other days of the week,” he said.

“We want to make it about the experience. It’s not just a shopping day, it’s a day for experiences, so how can we use the public spaces we have to encourage families into the city centre?

“It’s about someone checking out of a hotel at 11am and there isn’t anything open until a couple of hours later. We need to think about how we can do it in a way which is sensitive and understanding because there are people who may not want to work on a Sunday.

“We need to be looking at restaurants and coffee shops and events in our public spaces, but we also need to be sensitive that it isn’t just another day.”