Northern Ireland - Demographics and politics, Cities, Variations in geographic nomenclature, Economy, History, Culture, Education, Further reading
Tuaisceart Éireann (Irish)
Norlin Airlann (Ulster Scots)
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Motto: Dieu et mon droit (French for "God and my right")2 |
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Anthem: UK: God Save the Queen Regional: (de facto) Londonderry Air |
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| Capital |
Belfast 54°35.456′N 5°50.4′W |
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| Largest city | Belfast | ||||
| Official language(s) | English (de facto), Irish, Ulster Scots 3, NI Sign Language | ||||
| Government | Constitutional monarchy | ||||
| - Queen | Queen Elizabeth II | ||||
| - Prime Minister | Tony Blair MP | ||||
| - First Minister | Office suspended | ||||
| - Deputy First Minister | Office suspended | ||||
| - Secretary of State | Peter Hain MP | ||||
| Establishment | |||||
| - Government of Ireland Act | 1920 | ||||
| - Total | 13,843 km² (4th in UK) | ||||
| 1,710,300 (4th in UK) | |||||
| - 2001 census | 1,685,267 | ||||
| - Density |
122/km² (3rd in UK) 315/sq mi |
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| GDP (PPP) | 2002 estimate | ||||
| - Total | $33.2 billion | ||||
| - Per capita | $19,603 | ||||
| Currency | Pound sterling (GBP) | ||||
| Time zone | GMT (UTC0) | ||||
| - Summer (DST) | BST (UTC+1) | ||||
| Internet TLD | .uk .eu6 | ||||
| Calling code | +447 | ||||
| Patron Saint |
St Patrick5 The spelling Norn Iron is often used by indigenous speakers as an affectionate phonetic spelling to reflect local pronunciation.
2 In line with England |
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Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom and covers 5,459 square miles (14,139 km²) in the northeast of the island of Ireland, about a sixth of the total area of the island.
As an administrative division of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland was defined by the Government of Ireland Act, 1920, and has had its own form of devolved government in a similar manner to Scotland and Wales.
Northern Ireland has been for many years the site of a violent and bitter ethno-political conflict between those claiming to represent Nationalists (who are predominantly Catholic and want it to be unified with the Republic of Ireland) and those claiming to represent Unionists (who are predominantly Protestant and want it to remain part of the United Kingdom).
Demographics and politics
Northern Ireland consists of six counties:
County Antrim County Armagh County Down County Fermanagh County Londonderry County TyroneThese counties are no longer used for local government purposes;
Cities
There are 5 settlements with city status in Northern Ireland:
Belfast Derry Newry Armagh LisburnTowns and villages
Main articles: Towns in Northern Ireland and Villages in Northern Ireland See also the list of places in Northern Ireland for all villages, towns and cities
Ahoghill, Antrim Ballycastle, Ballyclare, Ballymena, Ballymoney, Ballynahinch, Banbridge, Bangor, Bushmills Carnmoney, Carrickfergus, Castlerock, Comber, Coleraine, Cookstown, Craigavon, Crumlin Donaghadee, Downpatrick, Dromore, Dundonald, Dungannon, Dungiven Enniskillen Glengormley, Garvagh Garrison, County Fermanagh Hillsborough, Holywood Kilkeel Larne, Limavady, Lurgan Magherafelt, Macosquin Newcastle, Newtownards, Newtownstewart Omagh Portrush, Portstewart, Portadown, Portaferry, Poyntzpass Strabane WarrenpointPlaces of interest
Belfast City Walled City of Derry Political Murals in Derry and Belfast Cave Hill Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge The Giant's Causeway Castlerock and Mussenden Temple The Glens of Antrim Navan Fort Armagh, Emain Macha Portstewart The Sperrin Mountains Rathlin Island Lough Erne The Mountains of Mourne Lough Neagh Strangford Lough Carlingford Lough River Foyle and Lough Foyle National parks of Northern Ireland National Trust Properties in Northern IrelandVariations in geographic nomenclature
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The neutrality of this section is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page. |
Many people inside and outside Northern Ireland use other names for Northern Ireland, depending on their point of view:
The most common names used are
Unionist/Loyalist
Ulster - to suggest that Northern Ireland has an older ancestry that predates its founding in 1921, dating back both to the Plantation of Ulster in the early 17th century and to the millennium-old province of Ulster, one of four provinces on the island of Ireland. The historic province of Ulster covers a greater landmass than Northern Ireland: six of its counties are in Northern Ireland, three in the Republic of Ireland.Nationalist/Republican
North of Ireland - 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. From the song Four Green fields by Tommy Makem which describes Ireland as divided with one of the four green fields being In strangers hands, referring to the partition of Ireland.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 newspapers in the Republic for still referring to the "Six Counties". Some nationalist and republican-leaning media outlets in Ireland (such as Daily 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; 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.
Economy
Main article: Economy of Northern Ireland
The Northern Ireland economy is the smallest of the four economies making up the United Kingdom.
History
Main article: History of Northern Ireland; for events before 1900 see Ulster or History of Ireland.
The area now known as Northern Ireland has had a diverse history.
The all-island Kingdom of Ireland (1541—1800) 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 central parliament, government and monarchy based in London. Unionists were in a minority on the island of Ireland as a whole, but were a majority in the northern province of Ulster, and 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.
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Prime Ministers of Northern Ireland |
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| Sir James Craig. |
| Sir Basil Brooke (1943—1963) |
| Captain Terence O'Neill (1963—1969) |
| James Chichester-Clark (1969—1971) |
| Brian Faulkner (1971—1972) |
The prospect of civil war in Ireland was seen by some as likely. Lloyd-George proposed in 1919 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-island parliament.
Partition of Ireland, partition of Ulster
In United Kingdom law, 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 joined those of Leinster, Munster and Connacht to form Southern Ireland.
Under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, Northern Ireland was provisionally scheduled to be included in the Irish Free State, though it could opt out should the Parliament of Northern Ireland elect so to do. The Council of Ireland provided for in the Treaty, to link Northern Ireland and the Irish Free State, did not come into being.
The Ireland Act 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, and this was most recently reaffirmed by the Northern Ireland Act 1998. The new Articles 2 and 3, added to the Bunreacht to replace the earlier articles, implicitly acknowledge that the status of Northern Ireland, and its relationships with the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, would only be changed with the agreement of a majority of voters in Northern Ireland. An acknowledgement that a decision on whether to remain in the United Kingdom or join the Republic of Ireland rests with the people of Northern Ireland was also central to the Belfast Agreement, which was signed in 1998 and ratified by plebiscites held simultaneously in both Northern Ireland and the Republic. However, many unionist leaders equivocate when asked if they would peacefully accept a reunited Ireland if a majority in Northern Ireland sought it.
A plebiscite within Northern Ireland on whether it should remain in the United Kingdom, or join the Republic, was held in 1973.
Lives lost and injured in the “Troubles”
Bombings in Great Britain tended to have had more publicity since attacks in Britain were comparatively rare (in the context of the troubles) indeed 93% of killings happened in Northern Ireland.
According to a Submission by Marie Smyth to the Northern Ireland Commission on Victims 40,000 people have also been injured though she believes that to be a conservative figure.
Culture
With its improved international reputation, Northern Ireland has recently witnessed rising numbers of tourists who come to appreciate the area's unique heritage.
Languages
The Mid Ulster dialect of English spoken in Northern Ireland shows influence from both the West Midlands and Scotland, thereby giving it a distinct accent compared to Hiberno-English, along with the use of such Scots words as wee for 'little' and aye for 'yes'.
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". Often the use of the Irish language in Northern Ireland has met with the considerable suspicion of Unionists, who have associated it with the largely Catholic Republic of Ireland, and more recently, with the republican movement in Northern Ireland itself.
Ulster Scots comprises varieties of the Scots language spoken in Northern Ireland.
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, in Cabra), Irish Sign Language (ISL) is commonly used in the Nationalist community.
Education
Education in Northern Ireland differs slightly from systems used elsewhere in the United Kingdom.
See:
List of Primary schools in Northern Ireland List of Grammar schools in Northern Ireland List of Secondary schools in Northern Ireland List of Integrated Schools in Northern IrelandFurther reading
Jonathan Bardon, A History of Ulster (Blackstaff Press, Belfast, 1992), ISBN 0-85640-476-4 Brian E.General
BBC Northern Ireland News The Northern Ireland news from BBC News Online Online NI Local Government Portal ni-photos.jmcwd.com Photos From Around Northern Ireland NICVA Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action Community NI Community NI: Northern Ireland voluntary and community sector.Geography
Geography in Action The geology of Northern IrelandHistory
Northern Ireland Elections BBC Nations History of Ireland on bbc.co.uk Conflict Archive on the Internet from the University of Ulster Inconvenient Peripheries : Ethnic Identity and the United Kingdom Estate by Prof. Philip PaytonTourism
Discover Northern Ireland Northern Ireland Tourist Board The Northern Ireland Guide - a travel guide to Northern Ireland for tourists and residents alike Art gallery featuring artists and scenes from Northern Ireland Armagh Down Tourism Go To Belfast Fermanagh Lakelands Mourne Mountains v • d • e Topics on Northern Ireland| History: | Ulster Cycle • Annals of Ulster • Nine Years War • Flight of the Earls • Plantation of Ulster • Irish Rebellion of 1641 • Battle of Benburb • Battle of Scarrifholis • Williamite War • Siege of Derry • Battle of the Boyne • 1798 Rebellion • Home Rule Crisis • Ulster Covenant • Belfast Blitz • The Troubles • Peace Process • History of Belfast • History of Derry |
| Politics: | Act of Union 1800 • Government of Ireland Act 1920 • NI Parliament 1920-1972 (acts) • Secretary of State for Northern Ireland • Belfast Agreement 1998 • Northern Ireland Act 1998 • NI Assembly 1998- (acts) • NI Constituencies • NI Districts • Unionism • Nationalism • Flags Issue |
| Geography: | Counties • Places • Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty • Mountains of Mourne • Giant's Causeway • National Trust Properties |
| Economy: | Bank of Ireland • Northern Bank • Ulster Bank • First Trust Bank |
| Demographics: | Demographics & Politics • Catholic • Presbyterian • Church of Ireland • Methodist |
| Culture: | Education • Integrated Education • Irish Language • Ulster Scots • Ulster Museum • Famous and Notable People |
| Sport: | Football (Soccer) • Football (Gaelic) • Rugby • Hurling • Camogie • Handball |
| Symbols: | National Flag • Coat of Arms • Cúchulainn • Flax | Red Hand of Ulster |
Constituent countries: England • Scotland • Wales • Northern Ireland
Overseas territories: Akrotiri and Dhekelia • Anguilla • Bermuda • British Antarctic Territory • British Indian Ocean Territory • British Virgin Islands • Cayman Islands • Falkland Islands • Gibraltar • Montserrat • Pitcairn Islands • Saint Helena (Ascension Island, Tristan da Cunha) • South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands • Turks and Caicos Islands
Crown dependencies: Guernsey • Isle of Man • Jersey
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