Initial Conditions

I’ve been in Scotland for 7 years now, and never cease to be surprised as to how many people haven’t been taught properly about what Northern Ireland is and what it is not (it never ceases to amaze me how many people don’t think it’s part of the UK!). Hence, here is are a few facts that should inform you. It should be noted that these are the facts, and I’m not trying to push any particular political agenda.

1. Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom. The name of the country is “the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland”. Hence, the currency is the pound sterling (albeit with slightly different banknotes due to different issuing banks), you don’t need a passport to get there from England, Scotland or Wales, and the head of state is Queen Elizabeth II. Radio 1 Newsbeat seemed unaware of this when they said “the Real IRA does not want Northern Ireland to become part of the UK”.

2. Northern Ireland, while on the island of Ireland, is NOT part of the state called Ireland (often called “Eire” or “Republic of Ireland”  or even just “the south” in unofficial speak). However, under the terms of 1998’s Good Friday agreement, people born in Northern Ireland are entitled to Irish passports as well as British, though many people choose not to invoke this right.

3. Northern Ireland and Ulster are not the same thing, though the two seem to be synonymous these days. The island of Ireland was traditionally divided into four provinces (Ulster, Munster, Leinster, Connaught, which exist now only on a few levels, mostly sporting). The province of Ulster contains 9 counties, including all six Northern Ireland counties. The remaining three, Donegal, Cavan and Monaghan, are in the Irish republic. Hence Shay Given, born in County Donegal, can call himself an Ulsterman (though he probably wouldn’t).

4. Northern Ireland has a devolved government, the seat of which is situated on Stormont Hill in East Belfast. Each of the 18 constituencies elects 6 members to serve in the Northern Ireland Assembly, which has limited power to enact laws in Northern Ireland (at a lower level than the Scottish Government). Occasionally, it gets suspended after various political collapses, but it seems to be doing ok just now.

5. Northern Ireland’s official flag is the Union Flag. The Ulster banner was technically discontinued in 1973, but is still used semi-offically by the Northern Ireland football team (and for other, less innocent purposes) as a unique identifier.

6. Football is governed by the Irish Football Association, whereas confusingly in Eire it is covered by the Football Association of Ireland! As far as I know, the only major sports or events that don’t have a unified Ireland team are football and Commonwelath games.

7. The capital of Northern Ireland is Belfast. Famous people and things from there include (but are not limited to) CS Lewis, George Best, Lord Kelvin (off of units of temperature), Van Morrison, the Titanic and Samson and Goliath, the Harland and Wolff cranes.

8. Northern Ireland’s only UNESCO World Heritage Site can be found at the Giant’s Causeway on the North Coast. It’s possibly also the windiest place in Europe.

9. Newtownards is objectively better than Bangor.

10. The tractor was invented in Northern Ireland, by County Down man Harry Ferguson.

11. My flatmate says that Fish and Chips he had in Bangor were “the best he ever had”

12. Local delicacies include Dulse, Yellowman, Veda, Soda and potato bread, Tayto crisps (try the cheese and onion!), Spelga yoghurt, Cookstown Sausages and Maud’s Ice Cream.

13. We didn’t have Tesco, Safeway, Asda or Sainsbury’s until 1997(ish). Prior to that we had Stewart’s and Wellworths, one of which had a low-price brand called yellow pack (like Tesco Value). I always remember being disappointed when Mum brought that stuff home.

14. There are three train lines- Belfast- Londonderry/Derry, Belfast- Larne, Bangor-Portadown via Belfast. This line continues on to Dublin. If you live anywhere else, you have to make do with Ulsterbus. And by “make do”, I mean suffer.

15.Lough Neagh is the biggest Freshwater lake in the UK.

So there you go, if you want to know anything else, ask me or look up wikipedia!