Northern Ireland ( ,
Ulster Scots: Norlin Airlann)
is one of the four
countries of the United Kingdom
. Situated in the north-east of the island of
Ireland
, it shares a border with the
Republic of
Ireland
to the south and west. At the time of the
2001 UK Census, its
population was 1,685,000, constituting about 30% of the island's
total population and about 3% of the population of the United
Kingdom.
Northern Ireland consists of
six of the traditional nine
counties of the historic Irish
province of
Ulster. It was
created as a distinct
division of the
United Kingdom on 3 May 1921 under the
Government of Ireland Act
1920, though its constitutional roots lie in the 1800
Act of Union between Great Britain and
Ireland. For over 50 years it had its own
devolved government and
parliament. These
institutions were
suspended in
1972 and abolished in 1973. Repeated attempts to restore
self-government finally resulted in the
establishment of the present-day
Northern Ireland
Executive and
Northern
Ireland Assembly. The Assembly operates on
consociational democracy principles
requiring cross-community support.
Northern Ireland was for many years the site of a violent and
bitter ethno-political conflict—
The
Troubles—between those claiming to represent
nationalists, who are predominantly
Roman Catholic, and those claiming to
represent
unionists, who are
predominantly
Protestant. Unionists want
Northern Ireland to remain part of the United Kingdom, while
nationalists wish it to be politically united with the rest of
Ireland. Since the signing of the "
Good Friday Agreement" in 1998, most of
the
paramilitary groups involved in the
Troubles have ceased their armed campaigns.
Due to its unique history, the issue of the symbolism,
name and description
of Northern Ireland is complex, and similarly the issue of
citizenship and identity. In
general, Unionists consider themselves British and Nationalists see
themselves as Irish, though these identities are not necessarily
mutually exclusive.
History
For events before 1922 see Ulster or
History of Ireland.

area that is now Northern Ireland has
had a diverse history.
From serving as the bedrock of Irish resistance in the era of the
plantation of Queen Elizabeth and James I in other parts of Ireland, it
became the subject of major planting of Scottish
and English
settlers
after the Flight of the Earls in
1607 (when the Gaelic aristocracy fled to Catholic Europe).
The
all-island Kingdom of Ireland
(1541—1801) merged into the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland
in 1801 under the terms of the Act of Union, under which the kingdoms of
Ireland and Great
Britain
merged under a government and parliament based in
London
. In the early 20th century,
Unionists led by
Sir Edward Carson opposed the introduction of
Home Rule in Ireland.
Unionists were in a minority on the
island of Ireland as a whole, but were a majority in the northern
province of
Ulster, a very large majority in
the counties of
Antrim and
Down, small majorities in the counties of
Armagh and
Londonderry, with substantial numbers
also concentrated in the nationalist-majority counties of
Fermanagh and
Tyrone. These six counties, containing an
overall unionist majority, would later form Northern Ireland.
The clash
between the House of Commons
and House of Lords
over the controversial budget of Chancellor of the Exchequer
David Lloyd-George produced the
Parliament Act of
1911, which enabled the veto of the Lords to be
overturned. Given that the Lords had been the unionists'
main guarantee that a home rule act would not be enacted, because
of the majority of pro-unionist peers in the House, the Parliament
Act made
Home Rule a more likely prospect.
Opponents
to Home Rule, from Conservative
Party leaders like Andrew Bonar
Law to militant unionists in Ireland, threatened the use of
violence, producing the Larne Gun
Running incident in 1914, when they smuggled thousands of
rifles and rounds of ammunition from Imperial Germany
for the Ulster
Volunteers. The prospect of civil war in Ireland
loomed.
In 1914, the
Third Home Rule
Act, which contained provision for a
temporary
partition, received the
Royal Assent.
Its implementation was suspended for the duration of the
intervening
First World War, which
was expected to last only a few weeks, but, in fact, lasted four
years.
By the end of the war, the Act was seen as dead in the water, with
public opinion in the majority nationalist community having moved
from a demand for home rule to independence.
David Lloyd George in 1919 proposed a new
bill which would divide Ireland into two Home Rule areas,
twenty-six counties being ruled from Dublin
, six being
ruled from Belfast
, with a
shared Lord Lieutenant of
Ireland appointing both executives and a Council of Ireland, which Lloyd George
believed would evolve into an all-Ireland parliament.
The island of Ireland was partitioned in 1921 under the terms of
the
Government of Ireland
Act 1920.
Six of the nine Ulster
counties in the north-east formed Northern Ireland and the
remaining three counties (including County Donegal
, despite it having a large Protestant minority as
well as it being the most northern county in all of Ireland) joined
those of Leinster, Munster and Connacht to form
Southern Ireland. Whilst
Southern Ireland had only a brief existence between 1921 and 1922,
a period dominated by the
Anglo-Irish
War and its aftermath, Northern Ireland was to continue
on.

Northern Ireland provisionally became
an autonomous part of the
Irish Free
State on 6 December 1922. However, as expected, the
Parliament of Northern
Ireland chose, under the terms of the
Anglo-Irish Treaty, to opt out of the
Irish Free State the following day. Shortly after Northern Ireland
had exercised its
opt out of the Irish Free State, a
Boundary Commission was
established to decide on the territorial boundaries between the
Irish Free State and Northern Ireland. Though leaders in Dublin
expected a substantial reduction in the territory of Northern
Ireland (with nationalist border areas moving to the Free State),
the Boundary Commission decided against this; in fact the
unpublished report had recommended that land should be ceded from
Southern Ireland to Northern Ireland. To prevent argument, this
report was suppressed, and the initial 6-county border was approved
by the
Dáil in Dublin on 10 December 1925
by a vote of 71 to 20.
In June 1940, to encourage the Irish state to join with the
Allies, British Prime
Minister
Winston Churchill
indicated to the
Taoiseach Éamon de Valera that the United Kingdom
would push for
Irish unity, but
believing that Churchill could not deliver, de Valera declined the
offer. (The British did not inform the Northern Ireland government
that they had made the offer to the Dublin government, and De
Valera's rejection was not publicised until 1970).
The
Ireland Act of 1949 gave
the first legal guarantee to the Parliament and Government that Northern
Ireland would not cease to be part of the United Kingdom
without consent of the majority of its
citizens.
The Troubles, starting in the late
1960s, consisted of about thirty years of recurring acts of intense
violence between elements of Northern Ireland's
nationalist community (principally
Roman Catholic) and
unionist community (principally
Protestant) during which 3,254 people were
killed.
The conflict was caused by the disputed
status of Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom
and the discrimination against the nationalist
minority by the dominant unionist majority. The violence was
characterised by the armed campaigns of paramilitary groups,
including the
Provisional IRA campaign of
1969-1997 which was aimed at the end of British rule in
Northern Ireland and the creation of a new "all-Ireland",
"thirty-two county"
Irish Republic,
and the
Ulster Volunteer
Force, formed in 1966 in response to the perceived erosion of
both the British character and
unionist domination of Northern Ireland.
The state security forces — the
British
Army and the police (the
Royal Ulster Constabulary) - were
also involved in the violence. The British government's point of
view is that its forces were neutral in the conflict, trying to
uphold law and order in Northern Ireland and the right of the
people of Northern Ireland to democratic self-determination.
Irish republicans, however,
regarded the state forces as "
combatants"
in the conflict, alleging
collusion
between the state forces and the loyalist paramilitaries as proof
of this. The "Ballast" investigation by the
Police Ombudsman has confirmed that British
forces, and in particular the RUC, did collude with loyalist
paramilitaries, were involved in murder, and did obstruct the
course of justice when such claims had previously been
investigated, although the extent to which such collusion occurred
is still hotly disputed. See also the section below on
Collusion by Security Forces and loyalist
paramilitaries.
As a consequence of the worsening security situation, autonomous
regional government for Northern Ireland was suspended in 1972.
Alongside the violence, there was a political deadlock between the
major political parties in Northern Ireland, including those who
condemned violence, over the future status of Northern Ireland and
the form of government there should be within Northern Ireland. A
plebiscite within Northern Ireland on
whether it should remain in the United Kingdom, or form part of a
united Ireland, was
held in 1973. The vote
went heavily in favour (98.9%) of maintaining the status quo with
approximately 57.5% of the total electorate voting in support, but
only 1% of Catholics voted following a boycott organised by the
SDLP.
Recent history
The Troubles were brought to an uneasy end by a
peace process which included
the declaration of ceasefires by most paramilitary organisations
and the complete decommissioning of their weapons, the reform of
the police, and the corresponding withdrawal of army troops from
the streets and from sensitive border areas such as
South Armagh and
Fermanagh, as agreed by the signatories to the
Belfast Agreement (commonly known
as the "
Good Friday
Agreement"). This reiterated the long-held British position,
which had never before been fully acknowledged by successive Irish
governments, that Northern Ireland will remain within the United
Kingdom until a majority votes otherwise.
Bunreacht na hÉireann, the
constitution of the Irish state, was amended in 1999 to remove a
claim of the "Irish nation" to sovereignty over the whole of
Ireland (in Article 2), a claim qualified by an acknowledgement
that Ireland could only exercise legal control over the territory
formerly known as the Irish Free State. The new
Articles 2 and
3, added to the Constitution to replace the earlier articles,
implicitly acknowledge that the status of Northern Ireland, and its
relationships within the rest of the United Kingdom and with
Ireland, would only be changed with the agreement of a majority of
voters in both jurisdictions (Ireland voting separately). This
aspect was also central to the
Belfast
Agreement which was signed in 1998 and ratified by referenda
held simultaneously in both Northern Ireland and the Republic.
At the
same time, the British Government recognised for the first time, as
part of the prospective, the so-called "Irish dimension": the
principle that the people of the island of Ireland
as a whole
have the right, without any outside interference, to solve the
issues between North and South by mutual consent. The latter
statement was key to winning support for the agreement from
nationalists and republicans. It also established a devolved
power-sharing government within Northern Ireland where the
government must consist of both unionist and nationalist
parties.
These institutions were suspended by the
British Government in 2002 after
Police Service of Northern
Ireland (PSNI) allegations of spying by people working for Sinn
Féin at the Assembly (
Stormontgate).
The resulting case against the accused
Sinn Féin member collapsed.
On 28 July 2005, the Provisional IRA declared an end to its
campaign and has since decommissioned what is thought to be all of
its
arsenal. This final act of
decommissioning was performed in accordance with the Belfast
Agreement of 1998, and under the watch of the
Independent
International Commission on Decommissioning and two external
church witnesses. Many unionists, however, remain sceptical. This
IRA decommissioning is in contrast to Loyalist paramilitaries who
have so far refused to decommission many weapons. It is not thought
that this will have a major effect on further political progress as
political parties linked to Loyalist paramilitaries do not attract
significant support and will not be in a position to form part of a
government in the near future. Sinn Féin, on the other hand, with
their (real and perceived) links to militant republicanism, are the
largest nationalist party in Northern Ireland.
Politicians elected to the Assembly at the
2003 Assembly
Election were called together on 15 May 2006 under the Northern
Ireland Act 2006 for the purpose of electing a
First Minister of Northern
Ireland and a
deputy First Minister
of Northern Ireland and choosing the members of an Executive
(before 25 November 2006) as a preliminary step to the restoration
of devolved government in Northern Ireland.
Following the
election held on 7
March 2007, devolved government returned to Northern Ireland on 8
May 2007 with DUP leader
Ian Paisley and
Sinn Féin deputy leader
Martin
McGuinness taking office as First Minister and Deputy First
Minister, respectively. The current First Minister is Peter
Robinson, having taken over as leader of the Democratic Unionist
Party.
Government and politics
Northern Ireland has
devolved government
within the United Kingdom. There is a
Northern Ireland Executive
together with the 108 member
Northern Ireland Assembly to deal
with devolved matters with the UK Government and UK Parliament
responsible for
reserved matters.
Elections to the Assembly are by
single transferable vote with 6
representatives elected for each of the 18
Westminster
constituencies. It is also an
electoral
region of the
European
Union.
Northern Ireland elects 18 Members of Parliament (MP) to the House
of Commons; only 13 take their seats, however, as the 5
Sinn Fein MPs refuse to take the oath to serve the
Queen that is required of all MPs. The
Northern Ireland Office represents
the UK government in Northern Ireland on reserved matters and
represents Northern Irish interests within the UK government. The
Northern Ireland office is led by the
Secretary of State for
Northern Ireland, who sits in the
Cabinet of the United
Kingdom.
Northern Ireland is a distinct legal
jurisdiction, separate from
England, Wales and
Scotland.

Communities in Northern Ireland - 1991
census.
The main political divide in Northern Ireland is between Unionists
or Loyalists who wish to see Northern Ireland continue as part of
the United Kingdom and
Nationalist
or
Republicans who wish to see
Northern Ireland join the rest of Ireland, independent from the
United Kingdom. These two opposing views are linked to deeper
cultural divisions.
Unionists are overwhelmingly Protestant, descendants of mainly Scottish
, English
, Welsh
and Huguenot settlers as well as indigenous Irishmen who had converted
to one of the Protestant denominations. Nationalists are
predominantly
Catholic and descend from the
population predating the settlement, with a minority from Scottish
Highlanders as well as some converts from Protestantism.
Discrimination against nationalists under
the Stormont
government (1921–1972) gave rise to the nationalist
civil rights
movement in the 1960s. Some Unionists argue that any
discrimination was not just because of religious or political
bigotry, but also the result of more complex socio-economic,
socio-political and geographical factors. Whatever the cause, the
existence of discrimination, and the manner in which Nationalist
anger at it was handled, was a major contributing factor which led
to the long-running conflict known as
the
Troubles. The political unrest went through its most violent
phase between 1968 and 1994.
The population of Northern Ireland was estimated as being 1,759,000
on 10 December 2008. In the 2001 census, 45.6% of the population
identified as belonging to Protestant denominations (of which 20.7%
Presbyterian, 15.3%
Church of Ireland), 40.3%
identified as Catholic, 0.3% identified with non-Christian
religions and 13.9% identified with no religion. In terms of
community background, 53.1% of the Northern Irish population came
from a Protestant background, 43.8% came from a Catholic
background, 0.4% from non-Christian backgrounds and 2.7%
non-religious backgrounds. The population is forecast to pass the
1.8 million mark by 2011.
36% of the present-day population define themselves as
Unionist, 24% as
Nationalist and 40% define themselves as
neither. According to a 2007 opinion poll, 66% express long term
preference of the maintenance of Northern Ireland's membership of
the United Kingdom (either
directly
ruled or with
devolved government),
while 23% express a preference for membership of a united Ireland.
This discrepancy can be explained by the overwhelming preference
among Protestants to remain a part of the UK (89%), while Catholic
preferences are spread across a number of solutions to the
constitutional question including remaining a part of the UK (39%),
a united Ireland (47%), Northern Ireland becoming an independent
state (6%), and those who "don't know" (7%). Official voting
figures, which reflect views on the "national question" along with
issues of candidate, geography, personal loyalty and historic
voting patterns, show 54% of Northern Ireland voters vote for
Pro-Unionist parties, 42% vote for Pro-Nationalist parties and 4%
vote "other". Opinion polls consistently show that the election
results are not necessarily an indication of the electorate's
stance regarding the constitutional status of Northern
Ireland.
Most of the population of Northern Ireland are at least nominally
Christian. The ethno-political loyalties
are allied, though not absolutely, to the
Roman Catholic and
Protestant denominations and these are the labels
used to categorise the opposing views. This is, however, becoming
increasingly irrelevant as the
Irish
Question is very complicated. Many voters (regardless of
religious affiliation) are attracted to Unionism's
conservative policies, while other
voters are instead attracted to the traditionally leftist,
nationalist
Sinn Féin and
Social Democratic and Labour
Party (SDLP) and their respective party platforms for
Democratic Socialism and
Social Democracy.
For the most part,
Protestants feel a strong connection with Great Britain
and wish for Northern Ireland to remain part of the
United
Kingdom
. Many Catholics however, generally aspire to
a
United Ireland or are less certain
about how to solve the constitutional question. In the 2007 survey
by Northern Ireland Life and Times, 39% of Northern Irish Catholics
supported Northern Ireland remaining a part of the United Kingdom,
either by direct rule (4%) or devolved government (35%).
Protestants have a slight majority in Northern Ireland, according
to the latest Northern Ireland Census. The make-up of the
Northern Ireland Assembly reflects
the appeals of the various parties within the population. Of the
108
MLA,
55 are Unionists and 44 are Nationalists (the remaining nine are
classified as "other").
Citizenship and identity
As part of the United Kingdom, people from Northern Ireland are
British citizens. They are also entitled to Irish citizenship by
birth which is covered in the 1998
Belfast Agreement between the British and
Irish governments, which, provides that:
it is the birthright of
all the people of Northern Ireland to identify themselves and be
accepted as Irish or British, or both, as they may so choose, and
accordingly [the two governments] confirm that their right to hold
both British and Irish citizenship is accepted by both Governments
and would not be affected by any future change in the status of
Northern Ireland.
As a result of the Agreement, the
Constitution of Ireland was amended
so that people born in Northern Ireland are entitled to be
Irish citizens on the same basis as
people from any other part of the island of Ireland.
Neither government, however, extends its citizenship to all persons
born in Northern Ireland. Both governments exclude some people born
in Northern Ireland (e.g. certain persons born in Northern Ireland
neither of whose parents is a UK or Irish national). The Irish
restriction was given effect by the
Twenty-seventh
amendment to the Constitution in 2004.
Several studies and surveys performed between 1971 and 2006 have
indicated that, in general, Protestants in Northern Ireland see
themselves primarily as 'British', whereas Roman Catholics regard
themselves primarily as 'Irish'.Institute of Governance, 2006.
"National identities in the UK: do they matter?"Briefing
No. 16, January 2006. Retrieved from on 24 August 2006.
Extract:"Three-quarters of NorthernIreland’s Protestants regard
themselves as British, but only 12per cent of Northern Ireland’s
Catholics do so. Conversely, amajority of Catholics (65%) regard
themselves as Irish, whilstvery few Protestants (5%) do likewise.
Very few Catholics(1%) compared to Protestants (19%) claim an
Ulster identitybut a Northern Irish identity is shared in broadly
equalmeasure across religious traditions."
Details from
attitude surveys are in Demographics and
politics of Northern Ireland.
This does not however, account for the complex identities within
Northern Ireland, given that many of the population regard
themselves as "Ulster" or "Northern Irish", either primarily, or as
a secondary identity. A 2008 survey found that 57% of Protestants
described themselves as British, while 32% identified as Northern
Irish, 6% as Ulster and 4% as Irish. Compared to the same survey
carried out in 1998 this shows a fall in the percentage of
Protestants identifying as British and Ulster, and a rise in those
identifying as Northern Irish. The 2008 survey found that 61% of
Catholics described themselves as Irish, with 25% identifying as
Northern Irish, 8% as British and 1% as Ulster. These figures were
largely unchanged from the 1998 results.
Demography of Northern Ireland
The population of Northern Ireland has increased annually since
1978.
Ethnicity
- White: 1,670,988 (99.15%)
- Asian: 6,824
- Black: 1,136
- Other ethnic groups: 1,290 (0.08%)
- Mixed: 3,319 (0.20%)
Symbols used in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland comprises a patchwork of communities whose
national loyalties are represented in some areas by flags flown
from lamp posts. The
Union Flag and the
former
Northern
Ireland Flag are flown in some loyalist areas, and the
Tricolour, adopted by republicans as the
flag of Ireland in 1848, is flown in some
republican areas. Even
kerbstones in
some areas are painted red-white-blue or green-white-orange (or
gold), depending on whether local people express unionist/loyalist
or nationalist/republican sympathies.
The official flag is the
Union Flag. The
Northern Ireland flag was previously the former Governmental
Northern Ireland banner (also known as the "
Ulster Banner" or "Red Hand Flag"). It was
based on the arms of the former
Parliament of Northern
Ireland, and was used officially by the Government of Northern
Ireland and its agencies between 1953 and 1972. Since 1972, it has
no official status. UK flags policy states that in Northern
Ireland:
The Ulster flag and the Cross of St. Patrick have no
official status and, under the Flags Regulations, are not permitted
to be flown from Government Buildings.
The Union Flag and the Ulster Banner are mainly used by
Unionists.
The
Irish Rugby Football
Union and the
Church of
Ireland have used the
Flag of St.
Patrick. It was used to represent Ireland when the whole island
was part of the UK and is used by some
British army regiments.
Foreign flags are
also found, such as the Palestinian
flags in some Nationalist areas and Israeli
flags in some Unionist areas. This is also
true during matches with Scottish teams.
The United Kingdom
national anthem
God Save the Queen is
often played at state events in Northern Ireland. At some
cross-community events, however, the
Londonderry Air (also known as
Danny Boy) may be played as a
neutral substitute.
At the
Commonwealth Games, the
Northern Ireland team uses the Ulster Banner as its flag and
Danny Boy /
A Londonderry Air is used as its
national anthem. The
Northern Ireland
football team also uses the Ulster Banner as its flag but uses
God Save The Queen as its national anthem.Major
Gaelic Athletic Association
matches are opened by the Ireland national anthem,
Amhrán na bhFiann (The Soldier's
Song), which is also used by some other all-Ireland sporting
organisations.Since 1995, the
Ireland rugby union team has used a
specially commissioned song,
Ireland's Call as the team's anthemn.
The Ireland national anthem is also played at Dublin home matches
as a courtesy to the host country.
Northern Irish murals have
become well-known features of Northern Ireland, depicting past and
present divisions, both also documenting peace and cultural
diversity. Almost 2,000 murals have been documented in Northern
Ireland since the 1970s (see
Conflict Archive on the Internet/Murals).
Geography and climate

Map of Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland was covered by an
ice
sheet for most of the last
ice age and
on numerous previous occasions, the legacy of which can be seen in
the extensive coverage of
drumlins in
Counties Fermanagh, Armagh, Antrim and particularly Down.
The
centrepiece of Northern Ireland's geography is Lough Neagh
, at the largest freshwater lake both on the island
of Ireland and in the British Isles
. A second extensive lake system is centred on
Lower and Upper Lough
Erne
in Fermanagh. The largest island of
Northern Ireland is Rathlin
, off the Antrim coast. Strangford
Lough
is the largest inlet in the British Isles, covering
.
There are
substantial uplands in the Sperrin
Mountains (an extension of the Caledonian fold mountains) with
extensive gold deposits, granite Mourne
Mountains
and basalt Antrim Plateau, as well as smaller ranges in
South Armagh and along the
Fermanagh–Tyrone border. None of the hills are especially high, with
Slieve
Donard
in the dramatic Mournes reaching , Northern
Ireland's highest point. Belfast's most prominent peak is
Cave Hill.
The volcanic activity which created the
Antrim Plateau also formed the eerily geometric pillars of the
Giant's
Causeway
on the north Antrim coast. Also in north Antrim
are the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge
, Mussenden Temple
and the Glens of
Antrim
.
The Lower
and Upper River Bann, River Foyle
and River Blackwater form
extensive fertile lowlands, with excellent arable land also found in North and East Down,
although much of the hill country is marginal and suitable largely
for animal husbandry.
The
valley of the River
Lagan
is dominated by Belfast, whose metropolitan area
includes over a third of the population of Northern Ireland, with
heavy urbanisation and industrialisation along the Lagan Valley and
both shores of Belfast Lough.
The whole of Northern Ireland has a
temperate maritime climate, rather wetter
in the west than the east, although cloud cover is persistent
across the region. The weather is unpredictable at all times of the
year, and although the seasons are distinct, they are considerably
less pronounced than in interior Europe or the eastern seaboard of
North America. Average daytime
maximums in Belfast are in January and in July. The damp climate
and extensive deforestation in the 16
th and
17
th centuries resulted in much of the region being
covered in rich green grassland.
Highest maximum
temperature: at Knockarevan, near Garrison,
County Fermanagh
on 30 June 1976 and at Belfast
on 12 July 1983.
Lowest minimum temperature:
at Magherally, near Banbridge
, County Down on 1
January 1979.
Counties
Northern Ireland consists of six historic
counties:
County Antrim,
County
Armagh,
County Down,
County Fermanagh,
County Londonderry,
County Tyrone
These counties are no longer used for local government purposes;
instead there are twenty-six
districts of Northern Ireland
which have different geographical extents, even in the case of
those named after the counties from which they derive their name.
Fermanagh District
Council most closely follows the borders of the county from
which it takes its name. Coleraine Borough Council, on the other
hand, derives its name from the town of Coleraine in County
Londonderry.
counties are no longer used for governmental purpose, they remain a
popular means of describing where places are. They are officially
used while applying for an
Irish
passport, which requires one to state one's county of birth.
The name of county then appears in both
Irish and
English on the passport's information page,
as opposed to the town or city of birth on the United Kingdom
passport. The
Gaelic
Athletic Association still uses the counties as its primary
means of organisation and fields representative teams of each
GAA county.
The county boundaries still appear on Ordnance Survey of Northern
Ireland Maps and the Phillips Street Atlases, among others.
With
their decline in official use, there is often confusion surrounding
towns and cities which lie near county boundaries, such as Belfast
and Lisburn
, which are split between counties Down and Antrim
(the majorities of both cities, however, are in Antrim).
Cities
There are 5 major settlements with
city status in Northern
Ireland:
Towns and villages
- See also the list of places in Northern
Ireland for all villages, towns and cities
- Ahoghill
, Antrim
, Annalong
, Annaclone
- Ballycastle,
Ballyclare
, Ballykelly, Ballymena
, Ballymoney
, Ballynahinch, Banbridge
, Bangor
, Bushmills
- Carnmoney
, Carrickfergus
, Carryduff
Castledawson
, Castlerock
, Coalisland
, Comber
, Coleraine
, Cookstown
, Craigavon
, Crossmaglen
, Crumlin
,Corbet
, Cloughey
, Cushendall
- Donaghadee
, Downpatrick
, Dromore
, Dundonald
, Dungannon
, Dungiven
, Dromore, Donaghcloney
- Enniskillen

- Glengormley,
Garvagh
, Gilford
- Garrison

- Hillsborough
, Holywood
- Kilkeel
, Kilrea
- Larne
, Limavady
, Lurgan
, Loughbrickland
- Magherafelt
, Macosquin
, Moira
- Newcastle
, Newtownards
, Newtownstewart
- Omagh

- Portrush
, Portstewart
, Portadown
, Portaferry
, Portavogie
, Poyntzpass
, Portballintrae
- Rasharkin
, Rathfriland
- Strabane
, Scarva
- Tandragee

- Warrenpoint

Law
Northern
Ireland's legal and administrative systems have evolved from those
in place in the pre-partition United Kingdom
, and were developed by its devolved government from
1921 until 1972. From 1972 until 1999 (except for a brief
period in 1974), laws and administration relating to Northern
Ireland were handled directly from Westminster
. Between the years 1999 and 2002 (except
during a brief suspension), and since May 2007, devolution has
returned to Northern Ireland.
Economy
The
Northern Ireland economy is the smallest of the four economies
making up the United
Kingdom
. Northern Ireland has traditionally had an
industrial economy, most notably in shipbuilding, rope manufacture
and textiles, but most heavy industry has since been replaced by
services, primarily the public sector. Tourism also plays a big
role in the local economy. More recently the economy has benefited
from major investment by many large multi-national corporations
into high tech industry. These large organisations are attracted by
government subsidies and the skilled workforce in Northern Ireland.
Despite the presence of many multi-national corporations, the
largest employer in the country is the
Government.
Transport
Northern
Ireland is served by three airports - Belfast
International
near Antrim
, George Best Belfast City
in East Belfast, and City of
Derry
in County Londonderry.
Major sea
ports at Larne
and
Belfast
carry passengers and freight between Great Britain
and Northern Ireland.
Passenger railways are operated by
Northern Ireland Railways.
With
Iarnrod Éireann (Irish Rail),
Northern Ireland Railways
co-operates in providing the joint Enterprise service between Dublin
and Belfast
.
Main motorways are:
- M1 connecting Belfast to the
south and west, ending in Dungannon

- M2 connecting
Belfast to the north
- M3
connecting the M1 and M2 in Belfast with the A2
dual carriageway to Bangor
- M5 connecting Belfast to
Newtownabbey

The
cross-border European route E01
is a major EU-funded cross-border route that will
eventually upgrade the road connecting the ports between Larne
in
Northern Ireland and Rosslare in the
Republic of
Ireland
.
Culture
With its improved international reputation, Northern Ireland has
recently witnessed rising numbers of tourists. Attractions include
cultural festivals, musical and artistic traditions, countryside
and geographical sites of interest,
public
houses, welcoming hospitality and sports (especially
golf and
fishing). Since 1987
public houses have been allowed to open
on Sundays, despite some opposition.
The Ulster Cycle is a large body of prose and verse centring around
the traditional heroes of the
Ulaid in what is
now eastern Ulster. This is one of the four major cycles of
Irish Mythology. The cycle centres
around the reign of
Conchobar mac
Nessa, who is said to have been king of Ulster around the time
of Christ.
He ruled from Emain Macha
(now Navan Fort near Armagh), and had a fierce
rivalry with queen Medb and king Ailill of
Connacht and their ally, Fergus
mac Róich, former king of Ulster. The foremost hero of
the cycle is Conchobar's nephew
Cúchulainn.
Languages
English
The
dialect of English spoken in
Northern Ireland shows influence from Scotland
, with the use of such Scots words as wee for 'little' and
aye for 'yes'. Some jocularly call this dialect
phonetically by the name
Norn Iron. There are supposedly
some minute differences in pronunciation between Protestants and
Catholics, the best known of which is the name of the letter
h, which Protestants tend to pronounce as "aitch", as in
British English, and Catholics tend
to pronounce as "haitch", as in
Hiberno-English. However, geography is a
much more important determinant of dialect than religious
background. English is spoken as a first language by almost 100% of
the Northern Irish population, though under the
Good Friday Agreement,
Irish and
Ulster
Scots (one of the dialects of the Scots language), sometimes
known as
Ullans, have recognition as "part of the cultural
wealth of Northern Ireland".
Irish
The
Irish language (Gaeilge) is the
native language of the whole island of Ireland
.
It was
spoken predominantly throughout what is now Northern Ireland before
the settlement of Protestants from Great Britain
in the 17th century. Most placenames
throughout Northern Ireland are anglicised versions of their Gaelic
originals. These Gaelic placenames include thousands of lanes,
roads, townlands, towns, villages and all of its modern cities.
Examples include Belfast- derived from
Béal Feirste,
Shankill- derived from
Sean Cill and Lough Neagh- derived
from
Loch nEathach.
In Northern Ireland the Irish language has long been associated
with Irish nationalism. The language was seen as a common heritage
and indeed the object of affection by many prominent 19th century
Protestant republicans and Protestant unionists. There are three
main dialects in the island of Ireland—Ulster, Munster and
Connacht. Speakers of each dialect often find others difficult to
understand. Speakers in Northern Ireland speak the Ulster
dialect.
In the early years of the 20th century, the language became a
political football throughout Ireland as Republican activists
became increasingly linked with it. In the 20th century, the
language became in Unionist eyes increasingly polarised for
political ends and many in that community would blame
Sinn Féin in this regard. After Ireland was
partitioned, the language was largely rejected in the education
system of the new Northern Ireland. It is argued that the
predominant use of the English language may have served to
exacerbate the Troubles.
The erection by some Local District Councils of legal bilingual
street names (English/Irish), invariably in predominantly
Catholic/Nationalist/Republican districts, may be perceived as
creating a 'chill factor' by Unionists and as such not conducive to
fostering good cross community relationships. However other
countries within the United Kingdom, such as Wales and Scotland,
enjoy the use of Bilingual signs in Welsh and Scots Gaelic
respectively. Because of this, nationalists in Northern Ireland
argue for equality in this regard. In responses to the 2001 census
in Northern Ireland 10% of the population claimed "some knowledge
of Irish", 4.7% to "speak, read, write and understand" Irish. It
was not asked as part of the census but in a poll, 1% of
respondents said they speak it as their main language at home.
Following a public consultation, the decision was taken not to
introduce specific legislation for the Irish language at this time,
despite 75% of the (self-selecting) respondents stating that they
were in favour of such legislation.
Ulster Irish or Donegal Irish, is the dialect which is nearest to
Scots Gaelic. Some words and phrases of the dialect are shared with
Scots Gaelic. The dialects of East Ulster - those of Rathlin Island
and the Glens of Antrim - were very similar to the Scottish Gaelic
dialect formerly spoken in Argyll, the part of Scotland nearest to
Rathlin Island. The Ulster Gaelic is the most central dialect of
Gaelic, both geographically and linguistically, of the once vast
Gaelic speaking world, stretching from the south of Ireland to the
north of Scotland.At the beginning of the 20th century, Munster
Irish was favoured by many revivalists, with a shift to Connaught
Irish in the 1960s, which is now the preferred dialect by many in
Ireland. Many younger speakers of Irish experience less confusion
with dialects due to the expansion of Irish-language broadcasting
(TG4) and the exposure to a variety of dialects. There are fewer
problems regarding written Irish as there is a standardised
spelling and grammar, created by the Irish Government, which was
supposed to reflect a compromise between various dialect forms.
However, Ulster Irish speakers find that Ulster forms are generally
not favoured by the standard.
All learners of Irish in Northern Ireland use this form of the
language. Self-instruction courses in Ulster Irish include
Now
You’re Talking and
Tús maith.The writer Séamus Ó
Searcaigh, once warned about the Irish Government's attempts at
producing a
Caighdeán or
Standard for the Irish
language in Ireland in 1953, when he wrote that what will emerge
will be "Gaedhilg nach mbéidh suim againn inntí mar nár fhás sí go
nádúrtha as an teangaidh a thug Gaedhil go hÉirinn" (A Gaelic which
is of no interest to us, for it has not developed naturally from
the language brought to Ireland by the Gaels).The Ulster Irish
dialect is spoken throughout the area of the historical nine county
Ulster, in particular the Gaeltacht region of County Donegal and
the of West Belfast. Mayo Irish has strong ties with Donegal
Irish.
Ulster Scots
Ulster Scots comprises varieties of the
Scots language spoken in Northern
Ireland. Aodán Mac Poilín states that "While most argue that
Ulster-Scots is a dialect or variant of Scots, some have argued or
implied that Ulster-Scots is a separate language from Scots. The
case for Ulster-Scots being a distinct language, made at a time
when the status of Scots itself was insecure, is so bizarre that it
is unlikely to have been a linguistic argument." Approximately 2%
of the population claim to speak Ulster Scots, however the number
speaking it as their main language in their home is negligible.
Classes at colleges can now be taken but for a native English
speaker "[the language] is comparatively accessible, and even at
its most intense can be understood fairly easily with the help of a
glossary." The St Andrews Agreement recognises the need to "enhance
and develop the Ulster Scots language, heritage and culture".
Other languages
There are an increasing number of
ethnic minorities in
Northern Ireland.
Chinese and
Urdu are spoken by Northern Ireland's Asian
communities; though the Chinese community is often referred to as
the "third largest" community in Northern Ireland, it is tiny by
international standards. Since the accession of new member states
to the
European Union in 2004,
Central and Eastern European languages, particularly
Polish, are becoming increasingly
common.
The most common
sign language in
Northern Ireland is
British Sign
Language (BSL), but as Catholics tended to send their deaf
children to schools in Dublin (St Joseph's Institute for Deaf Boys
and St. Mary's Institute for Deaf Girls),
Irish Sign Language (ISL) is commonly
used in the Nationalist community. The two languages are not
related: BSL is in the British family (which also includes
Auslan), and ISL is in the French family (which also
includes
American Sign
Language).
Variations in geographic nomenclature
Alternative names for Northern Ireland
Many people inside and outside Northern Ireland use other names for
Northern Ireland, depending on their point of view.
Notwithstanding the ancient realm of Dál Riata which extended into
Scotland, disagreement on names, and the reading of political
symbolism into the use or non-use of a word, also attaches itself
to some urban centres. The most famous example is whether Northern
Ireland's second city should be called
"Derry" or
"Londonderry".
Choice of language and nomenclature in Northern Ireland often
reveals the cultural, ethnic and religious identity of the speaker.
The first
Deputy First
Minister of Northern Ireland,
Seamus
Mallon, was criticised by unionist politicians for calling the
region the "North of Ireland" while Sinn Féin has been criticised
in some Irish newspapers for still referring to the "Six
Counties".
Those who do not belong to any group but lean towards one side
often tend to use the language of that group. Supporters of
unionism in the British media (notably the
Daily Telegraph and the
Daily Express) regularly call Northern
Ireland "Ulster". Some nationalist and republican-leaning media
outlets in Ireland almost always use "North of Ireland" or the "Six
Counties".
Government and cultural organisations in
Northern Ireland, particularly those pre-dating the 1980s , often
use the word "Ulster" in their title; for example, the University of Ulster, the
Ulster
Museum
, the Ulster
Orchestra, and BBC Radio
Ulster.
Many news bulletins since the 1990s have opted to avoid all
contentious terms and use the official name,
Northern
Ireland.
The North is still used by some news
bulletins in the Republic, to the annoyance of some Unionists.
Bertie Ahern, the previous
Taoiseach, now almost always refers to
Northern Ireland in public, having previously only used
The North. For Northern Ireland's second largest city,
broadcasting outlets which are unaligned to either community and
broadcast to both use both names interchangeably, often starting a
report with "Londonderry" and then using "Derry" in the rest of the
report. However, within Northern Ireland, print media which are
aligned to either community (the
News
Letter is aligned to the unionist community while the
Irish News is aligned to the
nationalist community) generally use their community's preferred
term. British newspapers with unionist leanings, such as the
Daily Telegraph, usually
use the language of the unionist community. In its style guide,
The Guardian recommends using "Derry"
and "Co Derry", and "not Londonderry". The media in the Republic
use the names preferred by nationalists. Whether this is all an
official editorial policy or a personal preference by the writers
is unknown.
The division in nomenclature is seen particularly in sports and
religions associated with one of the communities.
Gaelic games use
Derry,
for example. Nor is there clear agreement on how to decide on a
name. When the nationalist-controlled local council voted to
re-name the city "Derry" unionists objected, stating that as it
owed its city status to a
Royal
Charter, only a charter issued by
the Queen could change
the name. The Queen has not intervened on the matter and thus the
council is now called "Derry City Council" while the city is still
officially "Londonderry". Nevertheless, the council has printed two
sets of stationery - one for each term - and their policy is to
reply to correspondence using whichever term the original sender
used.
At times of high communal tension, each side regularly complains of
the use of the nomenclature associated with the other community by
a third party such as a media organisation, claiming such usage
indicates evident "bias" against their community.
Unionist/Loyalist
- Ulster
(Ulaidh) is strictly the historic province of Ulster, six
of its nine counties are in Northern Ireland. The term "Ulster" is
widely used by the Unionist community and the British press as
shorthand for Northern Ireland. In the past, calls were made for
Northern Ireland's name to be changed to Ulster. This proposal was
formally considered by the Government of Northern Ireland in 1937
and again in 1949 but no change was made.
- The Province (An Cúige)
refers literally to the historic Irish province of Ulster but today
is used widely, within this community, as shorthand for Northern
Ireland. The BBC, in its editorial guidance for
Reporting the United Kingdom, states that "the province"
is an appropriate secondary synonym for Northern Ireland, "Ulster"
is not. It also deprecates the use of the term
"British" in favour of "people of Northern Ireland", and the term
"mainland" when referring to Great Britain
in relation to Northern Ireland
Nationalist/Republican
- North of Ireland
(Tuaisceart na hÉireann) - to link Northern Ireland to the
rest of the island, by describing it as being in the 'north
of Ireland' and so by implication playing down Northern
Ireland's links with Great Britain
. (The northernmost point in Ireland, in
County
Donegal
, is in fact in the Republic.)
- North-East Ireland
(Oirthuaisceart Éireann) - used in the same way as the
"North of Ireland" is used.
- The Six Counties (na Sé
Chontae) - language used by republicans e.g. Republican Sinn
Féin, which avoids using the name given by the British-enacted
Government of Ireland Act 1920. (the Republic is similarly
described as the Twenty-Six Counties.) Some of the users
of these terms contend that using the official name of the region
would imply acceptance of the legitimacy of the Government of
Ireland Act.
- The Occupied Six Counties. The state
of Ireland, whose legitimacy is not recognised by republicans
opposed to the Belfast Agreement,
is described as "The Free State", referring to the Irish Free State, which gained independence
(as a Dominion) in 1922.
- British-Occupied Ireland. Similar in
tone to the Occupied Six Counties this term is used by
more dogmatic anti-Good Friday
Agreement republicans who still hold that the First Dáil was the last legitimate
government of Ireland and that all governments since have been
foreign imposed usurpations of Irish national
self-determination.
- Fourth Green Field (An Cheathrú
Gort Glas). From the song Four Green Fields by Tommy Makem which describes Ireland as divided
with one of the four green fields (the traditional provinces of Ireland) being In
strangers hands, referring to the partition of Ireland.
Other
- The North (An Tuaisceart) -
used to describe Northern Ireland in the same way that "The South"
is used to describe the Republic.
- Norn Iron (previously rendered "Norn
Irn") - is an informal and affectionate local nickname used by both
nationalists and unionists to refer to Northern Ireland, derived
from the pronunciation of the words "Northern Ireland" in an
exaggerated Ulster accent (particularly one from the Greater
Belfast area). The phrase is seen as a light-hearted way to refer
to the province, based as it is on regional pronunciation. Often
refers to the Northern Ireland
national football team.
Descriptions for Northern
Ireland
There is no generally accepted term to describe what Northern
Ireland is: province, region, country or something else. The choice
of term can be controversial and can reveal the writer's political
preferences. This has been noted as a problem by several writers on
Northern Ireland, with no generally recommended solution.
Owing in part to the way in which the United Kingdom and Northern
Ireland came into being, there is no legally defined term to
describe what Northern Ireland 'is'. There is also no uniform or
guiding way to refer to Northern Ireland amongst the agencies of
the UK government. For example, the websites of the Office of the
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and the UK Statistics
Authority describe the United Kingdom as being made up of four
countries, one of these being Northern Ireland. Other pages on the
same websites refer to Northern Ireland specifically as a
"province" as do publications of the UK Statistics Authority. The
website of the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency also
refers to Northern Ireland as being a province as does the website
of the Office of Public Sector Information and other agencies
within Northern Ireland. Publications of HM Treasury and the
Department of Finance and Personnel of the Northern Ireland
Executive, on the other hand, describe Northern Ireland as being a
"region of the UK".
Unlike England, Scotland and Wales, Northern Ireland has no history
of being an independent country or of being a nation in its own
right. Some writers describe the United Kingdom as being made up of
three countries and one province or point out the difficulties with
calling Northern Ireland a country. Authors writing specifically
about Northern Ireland dismiss the idea that Northern Ireland is a
"country" in general terms, and draw contrasts in this respect with
England, Scotland and Wales. Even for the period covering the first
50 years of Northern Ireland's existence, the term
country
is considered inappropriate by some political scientists on the
basis that many decisions were still made in London. The absence of
a distinct nation of Northern Ireland, separate within the island
of Ireland, is also pointed out as being a problem with using the
term and is in contrast to England, Scotland and Wales.
Many commentators prefer to use the term "province", although that
is also not without problems. It can arouse irritation,
particularly among Nationalists, for whom the title province is
properly reserved for the traditional province of Ulster, of which
Northern Ireland occupies six out of nine counties. The BBC style
guide is to refer to Northern Ireland as a province, and use of the
term is common in literature and newspaper reports on Northern
Ireland and the United Kingdom. Some authors have described the
meaning of this term as being equivocal: referring to Northern
Ireland as being a province both of the United Kingdom and of the
traditional country of Ireland.
"Region" is used by several UK government agencies and the European
Union. Some authors choose this word but note that it is
"unsatisfactory". Northern Ireland can also be simply described as
"part of the UK", including by UK government offices.
Sport
In Northern Ireland, sport is popular and important in the lives of
many people. Sports tend to be organised on an all-Ireland basis
including both Northern Ireland and the Republic, as in the case of
Gaelic football,
rugby,
hockey,
basketball,
cricket and
hurling. The main
exception is association football (
soccer),
which has separate governing bodies for each jurisdiction.
Gaelic games
Gaelic games include
Gaelic
football,
hurling,
Gaelic handball and
rounders. Of the four, football is the most popular
in Northern Ireland. Players play for local clubs with the best
being selected for their county teams:
Antrim,
Armagh,
Derry,
Down,
Fermanagh and
Tyrone. The
Ulster GAA
is the branch of the
Gaelic
Athletic Association that is responsible for all nine counties
of
Ulster, including the six that are in
Northern Ireland. All nine field teams in the
Ulster Senior Football
Championship,
Ulster Senior Hurling
Championship,
All-Ireland Senior
Football Championship and
All-Ireland Senior
Hurling Championship. Recent successes for Northern Ireland's
teams include
Armagh's 2002
All-Ireland Senior
Football Championship win and
Tyrone's wins in 2003, 2005 and 2008.
Association football (soccer)
The
Irish Football
Association (IFA) is the organising body for association
football in Northern Ireland. The highest level of competition
within Northern Ireland is the
IFA
Premiership. There is also an all-island tournament, the
Setanta Cup, which includes four IFA
Premiership teams and four teams from the Republic's league.
However,
the best Northern Irish players tend to play for clubs in Great Britain
in the English or Scottish leagues. Despite
Northern Ireland's small population,
its international
team has had a number of notable successes, including World Cup
quarter-final appearances in 1958 and 1982.
Rugby union
Northern Ireland's six counties are among the nine governed by the
Ulster branch of the all-island
governing body, the
Irish
Rugby Football Union. Ulster is one of the four professional
provincial teams in the island of Ireland and competes in the
Celtic League and
European Cup. Ulster won the European Cup in
1999. In international competition, players from Northern Ireland
represent the
Ireland
national rugby team, whose recent successes include four
Triple Crown between 2004
and 2009 and a
Grand Slam
in 2009.
Cricket
Cricket is the fastest growing sport in the
country. The
Ireland cricket
team is an associate member of the
International Cricket Council.
It participated in
2007 Cricket
World Cup and qualified for the Super 8s and did the same in
the
2009 ICC World Twenty20.
Ireland are current champions of
ICC Intercontinental Cup and the
under-19 team is also performing very well.
The regular
international ground is Stormont
in Belfast.
Education
Education
in Northern Ireland differs slightly from systems used elsewhere in
the United
Kingdom
. Unlike most areas of the United Kingdom, in
the last year of
primary school
children sit the
eleven plus transfer
test, and the results determine whether they attend
grammar schools or
secondary schools. This system was due
to be changed in 2008 amidst some controversy, with the exception
of north Armagh where the
Dickson Plan
is in effect.
Northern Ireland's state (controlled) schools are open to all
children in Northern Ireland, although in practice are mainly
attended by those from Protestant or non-religious backgrounds.
There is a separate publicly funded school system provided for
Roman Catholics, although Roman Catholics are free to attend state
schools (and some non-Roman Catholics attend Roman Catholic
schools).
Integrated schools,
which attempt to ensure a balance in enrolment between pupils of
Protestant, Roman Catholic and other faiths (or none) are becoming
increasingly popular, although Northern Ireland still has a
primarily
de facto religiously segregated education
system. In the primary school sector, forty schools (8.9% of the
total number) are Integrated Schools and thirty two (7.2% of the
total number) are
Gaelscoileanna.
See:
There are
two main universities in Northern Ireland - The
Queen's University of Belfast
, and the University
of Ulster.
See also
Lists
References
- Statutory Rules & Orders published by authority, 1921 (No.
533); Additional source for 3 May 1921 date: Alvin Jackson,
Home Rule - An Irish History, Oxford University Press,
2004, p198.
- Standing up for Northern Ireland www.uup.org.
Retrieved 2 August 2008.
- www.sinnfein.ie. Retrieved 2 August 2008.
- Policy Summaries: Constitutional Issues www.sdlp.ie,
accessed, 2 August 2008
- Northern Ireland became a distinct region of the United
Kingdom, by Order in Council on 3 May 1921 (Statutory
Rules & Orders published by authority (SR&O) 1921, No.
533). Its constitutional roots remain the Act of Union, two
complementary Acts, one passed by the Parliament of Great Britain, the
other by the Parliament of Ireland.
- On 7 December 1922 (the day after the establishment of the
Irish Free State) the Parliament resolved to
make the following address to the King so as to opt out of the
Irish Free State: ”Most Gracious Sovereign, We, your Majesty's
most dutiful and loyal subjects, the Senators and Commons of
Northern Ireland in Parliament assembled, having learnt of the
passing of the Irish Free State
Constitution Act 1922, being the Act of Parliament for the
ratification of the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty between
Great Britain and Ireland, do, by this humble Address, pray your
Majesty that the powers of the Parliament and Government of the
Irish Free State shall no longer extend to Northern Ireland".
Source: Northern Ireland Parliamentary Report, 7 December
1922 and Anglo-Irish Treaty, sections 11, 12
- Dáil Éireann - Volume 13 - 10 December
1925.
- "Anglo-Irish Relations, 1939—41: A Study in Multilateral
Diplomacy and Military Restraint" in Twentieth Century British
History (Oxford Journals, 2005). ISSN 1477-4674.
- Malcolm Sutton’s book, “Bear in Mind These Dead: An Index of
Deaths from the Conflict in Ireland 1969 - 1993.
- The Ballast report: "...the Police Ombudsman
has concluded that this was collusion by certain police officers
with identified UVF informants."
- BBC ON THIS DAY | 9 | 1973: Northern Ireland votes
for union
- Parliamentary debate: "The British government
agree that it is for the people of the island of Ireland alone, by
agreement between the two parts respectively, to exercise their
right of self-determination on the basis of consent, freely and
concurrently given, North and South, to bring about a united
Ireland, if that is their wish."
- Northern Ireland Act 2006 (c. 17)
- (BBC)
- "For the purposes of the English conflict of laws,
every country in the world which is not part of England and Wales
is a foreign country and its foreign laws. This means that not only
totally foreign independent countries such as France or Russia... are foreign countries but also
British
Colonies such as the Falkland Islands. Moreover, the other parts
of the United Kingdom—Scotland and Northern Ireland—are foreign
countries for present purposes, as are the other British Islands, the
Isle of Man,
Jersey and Guernsey." Conflict of
Laws, JG Collier, Fellow of Trinity
Hall and lecturer in Law, University of Cambridge
- Professor John H. Whyte paper on discrimination in
Northern Ireland
- CAIN website key issues discrimination
summary
- Lord Scarman, "Violence and Civil Disturbances in Northern
Ireland in 1969: Report of Tribunal of Inquiry" Belfast: HMSO, Cmd
566. (known as the Scarman Report)
- BBC NEWS | UK | Northern Ireland | NI's population
passes 1.75m mark
- Northern Ireland Census 2001, Table KS07a:
Religion
- Northern Ireland Census 2001, Table KS07b:
Community background: religion or religion brought up in
- BBC News: Fascination of religion head
count
- Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency
population projections
- Ark survey, 2007. Answer to the question "Generally
speaking, do you think of yourself as a unionist, a nationalist or
neither?"
- Answers to the question "Do you think the long-term
policy for Northern Ireland should be for it [one of the
following"
- Ark survey, 2007. Answers to the question "Do you
think the long-term policy for Northern Ireland should be for it to
[one of the following"
- NI Life and Times Survey - 2007: NIRELND2
- Department Of the Taoiseach
- Breen, R., Devine, P. and Dowds, L. (editors), 1996.
"Social Attitudes in Northern Ireland: The Fifth Report"
ISBN 0-86281-593-2. Chapter 2 retrieved from
http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/othelem/research/nisas/rep5c2.htm on 24
August 2006. Summary: In 1989—1994, 79% Protestants replied
"British" or "Ulster", 60% of Catholics replied "Irish."
- Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey, 1999.
Module:Community Relations. Variable:NINATID. Summary:72% of
Protestants replied "British". 68% of Catholics replied
"Irish".
- Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey.
Module:Community Relations. Variable:BRITISH. Summary: 78% of
Protestants replied "Strongly British."
- Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey, 1999.
Module:Community Relations. Variable:IRISH. Summary: 77% of
Catholics replied "Strongly Irish."
- [1] University of York Research Project
2002-2003 L219252024 - Public Attitudes to Devolution and National
Identity in Northern Ireland
- Northern Ireland: Constitutional Proposals and the Problem of
Identity, by J. R. Archer The Review of Politics, 1978
- A changed Irish nationalism? The significance of the Belfast
Agreement of 1998, by Joseph Ruane and Jennifer Todd
- Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey, 2008.
Module:Community Relations. Variable:IRISH.
- Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey, 1998.
Module:Community Relations. Variable:IRISH.
- Vandals curbed by plastic edging BBC News, 25
November 2008
- Statutory Rule 2000 No. 347
-
http://www.parliament.uk/commons/lib/research/notes/snpc-04474.pdf
- Northern
Irish flags from the World Flag Database
- Many Nationalists use the name County Derry.
- Protestants and the Irish Language: Historical Heritage and
Current Attitudes in Northern Ireland Rosalind M.O. Pritchard
University of Ulster at Coleraine, UK
- The Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Northern
Ireland) Order 1995 (No. 759 (N.I. 5))[2]
- Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency Census 2001 Output
- Northern Ireland LIFE & TIMES Survey: What is the main language spoken in your own
home?
- A Statement by Edwin Poots MLA, Minister of
Culture, Arts and Leisure, to the Northern Ireland Assembly on the
proposal to introduce Irish Language legislation. 16 October
2007
- Home Page
- Aodan Mac Poilin, 1999, "Language, Identity and Politics in Northern
Ireland" in Ulster Folk Life Vol. 45, 1999
- Northern Ireland LIFE & TIMES Survey: Do you yourself speak Ulster-Scots?
- Sunday Independent article on Mallon and the use of
"Six Counties".
- Example of Daily Telegraph use of "Ulster" in text
of an article, having used "Northern Ireland" in the opening
paragraph.
- The Guardian style guide
- RTÉ News usage
- Examples of usage of this term include Radio Ulster, Ulster Orchestra
and RUC; political parties like the
Ulster Unionist Party;
paramilitary organisations like Ulster Defence Association
and Ulster Volunteer Force.
Ulster was also used political campaigns such as
"Ulster
Says No" and Save Ulster from
Sodomy.
- Parliamentary Reports of the Parliament of Northern Ireland,
Volume 20 (1937) and The Times, January 6, 1949 – See also
Alternative names for
Northern Ireland
- DUP Press Release "Paisley reacts to Prime Minister's
statement". Date unknown. Extract "The DUP will be to the
fore in representing the vast majority of unionists in the
Province."—example of Ian Paisley referring to Northern Ireland as
The Province. Retrieved from on 11 October 2006.
- "The term “province” is often used synonymously with Northern
Ireland and it is normally appropriate to make secondary references
to “ the province”"
- Sinn Féin
usage of "Six Counties"
- Examples of usage by the United States-based extreme
republican "Irish Freedom Committee"
- Usage on "Gaelmail.com", a republican
website
- Example: or
- Example: or
- Example: or
- How do other sports in the island cope with the
situation? The Herald, April 3, 2008
Further reading
- Jonathan Bardon, A History
of Ulster (Blackstaff Press, Belfast, 1992), ISBN
0-85640-476-4
- Brian E. Barton, The Government of Northern Ireland,
1920—1923 (Athol Books, 1980).
- Paul Bew, Peter Gibbon and Henry
Patterson The State in Northern Ireland, 1921—72: Political
Forces and Social Classes, Manchester (Manchester University
Press, 1979)
- Robert Kee, The Green Flag: A
History of Irish Nationalism (Penguin, 1972–2000), ISBN
0-14-029165-2
- Osborne Morton, 1994. Marine Algae of Northern Ireland
Ulster Museum, Belfast.
- Henry Patterson, "Ireland Since 1939: The Persistence of
Conflict" (Penguin, 2006), ISBN 978-1-844-88104-8
- Hackney, P. (Ed).1992. Stewart's and Corry's Flora of the
North-east of Ireland. Third edition. Institute of Irish
Studies, The Queen's University of Belfast. ISBN 0 85389 446
9(HB)
- Betts, N.L. in Hackney, P. 1992. Stewart &
Corry's Flora of the North-east of Ireland. Third Edition.
Institute of Irish Studies. The Queen's University of Belfast. ISBN
0 85389 446 9 (HB)
External links