Mainland Brits, how many of you have been to N Ireland?

[Silver Hammer]

I've been many times, principally in the 80s and 90s but also recently all on business, occasionally combined with holidays. Great people , very welcoming almost everywhere. I was once thrown out of a pub in Belfast, although I blame the Caffreys for that (when it was proper strength then), I tend to drink Guinness there now which is a bit safer. I had one memorable week over there in the Griffith in the 90s - great roads, mostly empty and superb scenery. I've done the Giants Causeway, Bushmillss Distillery and the Titanic Experience which are all worth a visit and would certainly contemplate a proper holiday there.

Maxwell

[catso]

Been many times, all over although always on business through the '80's, 90's and 2000's.

Always found the Irish very friendly and never seen a spot of bother, although the Hotel I stayed at in Strabane did get blown up, fortunately not whilst I was there and the last time I went it had been rebuilt.

Also been many times to the South, and the Wife has Family over there. Last trip was a combined (Wife's cousin's) wedding in Tipperary and business trip, although not been for a few years now.

[ABZ RS6]

Belfast many times and had a great time evert trip.

Many fond memories of the Europa Hotel and The Crown and Robinsons directly opposite. Some very friendly local ladies in Robinsons in particular..........

[arnie12]

Londonderry reasonably pleasant, cheap taxis if I recall!

[Nuclear Biscuit]

My better half is from just over the border. The nearest northern town is Crossmaglen. We spent our honeymoon 25 years ago touring "the north" as it's referred to in the republic, fabulous scenery and lovely people. I love Ulster accents but I'll still avoid Cross.

[Lugy]

I've been over a couple of times, first was when the Stena Voyager was launched and I was quite young, I vaguely remember seeing the watch towers and some armoured up buildings. Second time was to help get drunk with some local bike racers over at Kirkistown, spent a long weekend there and had an absolute blast, ended up in a bar in Kirkcubbin (possibly the Mermaid?) which remains the best I've ever been in!
I'd go back in a heartbeat but can never justify the ferry rates, for the same money I can drive from Edinburgh to Dover, get a hotel and catch a ferry heading somewhere warmer!

[Earthdweller]

I've been many times

First as a young lad of 18 where I spent a summer working in an outward bound school in Co Down (1984)

One of the permanent staff there drove a Landy, bright red if I remember festooned with more lights than you can imagine

I remember him saying it was because it was so distinctive he reckoned he stood less chance of being blown up in it as he drove round the lanes

I enjoyed it and didn't really see any troubles

Though did get a lift back from an off licence one night by the licensee having walked into the local village with another English lad .. the shopkeeper nearly st himself when he heard our accents and took us back to the outward bound school n his car for our safety

Later I married an Irish girl and have been across the border many times

Went to a catholic wedding in a place called Keady in Armagh which is proper bandit country in the mid nineties

Lovely people who weren't fazed by my English accent

The only time I had any reaction was in Enniskillen filling up a rental car at a station where the flag stones were painted red white and blue

I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck standing up as I queued to pay at the hostility of the people in the shop

When I got to the front .. and spoke the cashier said "your English"

To which I replied yes .. couldn't really hide it

Then he said but the car .. at which point I noticed that it was the only one on the forecourt with an Irish republic plate .. I just said it's a rental a picked it up at the airport .. at which point all returned to normal .. made me think and unsettled me a bit

Funniest and most bizarre was also in the late nineties when I had travelled up from the republic with my brother in law in his truck to collect furniture from Belfast for sale at their business in Galway

We got stopped at a checkpoint on one of those roads across the border where it keeps crossing the border by an PSNI patrol

The cop wanted to see what was in the back and was kinda going head to head with my brother in law as both were fairly pig headed and stubborn

Then I got out as I'd been sitting in the cab to try and defuse the situation

I then heard a shout of my name from the treeline followed by "you fat bd" in a very thick NI accent

Everyone there turned and looked as a very heavily armed cop came out of the bushes, up to me, shook my hand and gave me a big bear hug !

Turns out it was a lad I'd trained with some ten years earlier at Hendon, then lived in police section house with before he left the Met and went back to NI

We had a great catch up much to everyone else's bemusement before heading off without having the truck searched or emptied

Most bizarre incident !!

Back there last year a couple of times .. much better than it was

Still prefer the west coast though

[surveyor]

West coast is ace.

I've been over for a couple of days this week. A day in the south and a day in the north... The nearest bother I've had was in a pub in a town not far from the border (in the south). Guy had a lot of photo's of bigwigs in the IRA. I had been prior warned about this, and about how to not get myself into trouble if he questioned why a bloke was coming from England to do my work in the Republic...

And he did ask....

[antspants]

Only once, I went to Londonderry for their Halloween party about 20 years ago with a girl who was originally from there and stayed with her family. Massive party with everybody coming out in fancy dress with a parade and fireworks, it was fantastic! Just googled and it's still going strong, 30 year anniversary last year with 30k attending.

[grumpyscot]

Went over there a good few years ago when our friend's son was in trhe army camp at Omagh. We had to sign into the camp under false names (so that we wouldn't be associated with the son ????) . It was awful seeing the kids get on to a bus which was then escorted by an armed platoon to the local school.

We went out for a drive (two cars) and suddenly the son stopped, did a fast u-turn and told us to do the same and get the f**k out of the area as fast as poss. Turned out, we'd ventured into an IRA area and if he'd been caught, they would probably have made him disappear for good!

Despite all that, we found the people to be very friendly (as soon as they found out we were from Edinburgh and not Glasgow), but the Guinness in the camp was crap as the squadies only drank lager so the Guinness was rarely poured.

[ch108]

chammyman said:

Done a daytrip on the motorbike years back. It pissed down the whole time.

Just the same as here (Glasgow), wet and miserable.

Also a rip off i walked down to the giants causeway and passed on the 30 quid rope bridge crossing thing that used to be in that advert.

I ws underwhelmed by the rope bridge too. I'm sure they made it look longer and over a higher drop in the advert!

£7 they wanted to cross a bridge that is no longer than my living room. (They now issue tickets to cross, to limit the number of folk on the bridge at any one time). We didn't bother as it was near closing time for the bridge anyway, just had a walk around the coastline there instead. I would say the surrounding coast was more stunning than the bridge.

We had mixed weather, I know you won't believe this but I got sunburned in Belfast on the first of our 6days in N.Ireland.

Edited by ch108 on Sunday 21st May 11:32

[nicanary]

ch108 said:

chammyman said:

Done a daytrip on the motorbike years back. It pissed down the whole time.

Just the same as here (Glasgow), wet and miserable.

Also a rip off i walked down to the giants causeway and passed on the 30 quid rope bridge crossing thing that used to be in that advert.

I ws underwhelmed by the rope bridge too. I'm sure they made it look longer and over a higher drop in the advert!

£7 they wanted to cross a bridge that is no longer than my living room. (They now issue tickets to cross, to limit the number of folk on the bridge at any one time). We didn't bother as it was near closing time for the bridge anyway, just had a walk around the coastline there instead. I would say the surrounding coast was more stunning than the bridge.

We had mixed weather, I know you won't believe this but I got sunburned in Belfast on the first of our 6days in N.Ireland.

Edited by ch108 on Sunday 21st May 11:32

I don't know if the arrangement is still the same, but when the visitors' centre was first opened the builders hadn't put any sort of fencing in place. As a consequence anybody could just walk round the side of the building to the bridge without paying. Not sure if you still can.

It's not the only place which doesn't take long to visit. If you're based more than 10 miles away (i.e. not Belfast) don't bother with the Portaferry Aquarium - if you walk slowly it'll last about 20 minutes. The best things to see are the orphaned seal pups. Long way to drive for what it is, but the road is interesting and picturesque (beware loony superbike riders who take every corner as if it's a closed road).

PS Re giving false names - when I first moved here I worked for a major building society and did many mortgage interviews. When military or police came to see me they always answered (understandably) "civil servant" when I asked their occupation. Then it was a case of trying to be diplomatic and patient in wheedling out some more, because like all lenders, you don't cough up £100k without some sort of evidence. It was mighty tough - I had to use my Englishness as a negotiating tool, suggesting that it was unlikely that I would pass their details on to the boys on the Falls Road.

Repossessions in West Belfast - could write a book about that..........

Edited by nicanary on Sunday 21st May 14:15

[ch108]

nicanary said:

I don't know if the arrangement is still the same, but when the visitors' centre was first opened the builders hadn't put any sort of fencing in place. As a consequence anybody could just walk round the side of the building to the bridge without paying. Not sure if you still can.

It's not the only place which doesn't take long to visit. If you're based more than 10 miles away (i.e. not Belfast) don't bother with the Portaferry Aquarium - if you walk slowly it'll last about 20 minutes. The best things to see are the orphaned seal pups. Long way to drive for what it is, but the road is interesting and picturesque (beware loony superbike riders who take every corner as if it's a closed road).

Edited by nicanary on Sunday 21st May 14:15

You have to buy a ticket at the kiosk in the car park if you want to cross the rope bridge now. It is still free to walk along the coastal path to the actual bridge though. Once at the bridge there seems to be some sort of security gate to pass through, presumably with your ticket.

We visited Dunluce Castle just a few miles away from the rope bridge, and also visited Giants Causeway, although we didn't do the causeway on the same day. The main reason we were over was for the NW200. Nearest accommodation we could get was in Derry, so a fair bit of time was taken up driving. The Thursday and Saturday were spent in Portstewart for the racing, and anything else we wanted to see was fitted in around that.

[Bernd Tost]

Firstly, thanks to the above poster for doing all the driving while we were across!

I'd been wanting to make the short hop from Manx Land for years, chiefly because the Troubles (undersells it a bit, like calling stomach cancer mild indigestion) were on the news so much during my formative years but at the same time didn't want to be a "terrorism tourist". Thankfully we had a rare chance to take in the North West 200 and the schedule meant that we could see more of what the region has to offer.

The Antrim coast is indeed stunning, I was far more impressed by the view near the rope bridge than I was by the thing itself and while the Giants Causeway is indeed worth seeing the other end on Staffa is much more impressive! The Titanic centre does live up to the hype and is within walking distance of the centre and I was quite surprised by the harbour area nearby but.. elsewhere it seemed like I'd jumped back 30 years. There were grand plans for the road network but they were shelved in 1975 and, with a few exceptions, very little has improved in that time, for example the Belfast - Derry motorway comes to an abrupt end onto a 2 lane road with a t-junction. Still, outside of the capital the traffic wasn't too bad - when we were there at least.

I fully understand why those posting on here who served in the province speak of it with less than happy memories, it was a tour you wanted to get out of the way. One guy I spoke to said the most life affirming noise he heard was "thrump crack": it's usually best if you hear the bullet that was meant for you.. They always kept an eye out for women with young kids, walking alongside lessened the chance of your CO writing another letter. Another guy alleged that he'd been a member of 14 Int. but I doubt anyone who actually was would ever openly speak of doing so!

Would I go again? Probably only for the bikes though it's a long way to go for nowt if it rains (again) on the Saturday. That said, my lasting memory of our trip is of the people, just superb (honourable mention to the blond lass on the desk at the tower museum in Derry and John, the Derry walls tour guide - thanks for the brolly).

One question for locals though: Lovely in places Northern Ireland may well be but do people move to there from the UK? Ok, I'd have no desire to move to say Middlesborough or Dover either but the divide still seemed so evident, I couldn't possibly see incomers being welcome unless they had relatives in the area who could vouch for them.

[Eric Mc]

Northern Ireland IS part of the UK - so - for the moment anyway, you can't move from the UK to Northern Ireland. You are just moving from one part of the UK to another part of the UK.

[Roofless Toothless]

Two stories, though not strictly about Northern Ireland, but related as you will see.

Some years ago I took my first Caterham on a journey to visit an old pal who was living in Country Cork, running a fishing lodge on the Blackwater. After surviving a rough trip on the ferry to Waterford (with the Caterham parked on a ramp, hanging precariously from a non-too trustworthy handbrake) I set off to cross the Island. Just outside of Waterford I stopped to buy petrol, and coming out of the shop after paying I saw a guy standing next to the car, looking it over. Not an unusual experience with a Seven. I said "Good morning," like you do, and he replied, "We're not all like that over here, you know." I said, "Like what?" And he said, "Like you read in the papers." At this stage the penny dropped as to what he was talking about, and I mumbled a few things like, "Well, we've got a few in all countries ... " We parted, he got back in his truck and drove off, but it was a rather haunting experience, and has been on my mind a long time.

Later in the same trip my mate wanted to go into Cork to pick up some stuff from the big indoor market there. I was waiting for him by one of the doors, just enjoying watching the world go by in a country I'd never been to before, when I realised I was standing about four or five yards away from a green pillar box by the kerb. It was an old British style Victorian pillar box, the Initials VR still plainly visible, but whereas I had only seen the like painted in Post Office red, this was painted green. It struck me as so odd that in a country with hundreds of years of history of the struggle to be an independent nation, all the people who had fought, suffered and died on both sides, that in the end it came down to a little guy with a can of green paint, painting the pillar box green. I could hear in my mind a little Spike Milligan Irish voice saying, "OI claim dis pillar box for de Republic!" as he covered up the red with the green. The idea of such traumatic historical events coming down at street level to the colour of a pillar box, that still had Queen Victoria's initials on it, will always stay with me.

[BlueFiestaST]

Belfast for a couple of days for a couple of nights out and also to see the Giants Causeway and the Game of Thrones location sets.
Bumped in to a few GoT actors in a pub too

I don't know many others who have been there neither but the coast is lovely.

[Eric Mc]

Roofless Toothless said:

Two stories, though not strictly about Northern Ireland, but related as you will see.

Some years ago I took my first Caterham on a journey to visit an old pal who was living in Country Cork, running a fishing lodge on the Blackwater. After surviving a rough trip on the ferry to Waterford (with the Caterham parked on a ramp, hanging precariously from a non-too trustworthy handbrake) I set off to cross the Island. Just outside of Waterford I stopped to buy petrol, and coming out of the shop after paying I saw a guy standing next to the car, looking it over. Not an unusual experience with a Seven. I said "Good morning," like you do, and he replied, "We're not all like that over here, you know." I said, "Like what?" And he said, "Like you read in the papers." At this stage the penny dropped as to what he was talking about, and I mumbled a few things like, "Well, we've got a few in all countries ... " We parted, he got back in his truck and drove off, but it was a rather haunting experience, and has been on my mind a long time.

Later in the same trip my mate wanted to go into Cork to pick up some stuff from the big indoor market there. I was waiting for him by one of the doors, just enjoying watching the world go by in a country I'd never been to before, when I realised I was standing about four or five yards away from a green pillar box by the kerb. It was an old British style Victorian pillar box, the Initials VR still plainly visible, but whereas I had only seen the like painted in Post Office red, this was painted green. It struck me as so odd that in a country with hundreds of years of history of the struggle to be an independent nation, all the people who had fought, suffered and died on both sides, that in the end it came down to a little guy with a can of green paint, painting the pillar box green. I could hear in my mind a little Spike Milligan Irish voice saying, "OI claim dis pillar box for de Republic!" as he covered up the red with the green. The idea of such traumatic historical events coming down at street level to the colour of a pillar box, that still had Queen Victoria's initials on it, will always stay with me.

Interesting comments. There are many, many symbols of the old British connections in the Republic if you look. Some of the old monuments etc that celebrated the connections between the two countries were removed or destroyed in the years after independence but many more survive. It would be tedious to make a list - it would be so long. Also, many of the grand official buildings in Dublin, which were built in the 18th century and earlier, still have royal crests in prominent positions.

The post boxes are interesting. Those that had been installed before 1921 still show their old royal crests - either VR or GR. The Irish post office still took delivery of British made post boxes for many years after independence. However, later versions have a blank disk where the royal crest would normally be located.

As a side comment, Portugal also uses British style post boxes - which they also paint red.

[funinhounslow]

Choppers said:

Me & some mates went once to go to a wedding in Belfast. The day before the wedding we strolled into a pub for a few beers and a few games of pool. Unfortunately we weren't aware that this particular pub was an IRA friendly pub. We opted to leave quite quickly minus any drinks or games of pool

I would like to visit, but stories like this (and the petrol station in a rented car and Derry in the converted ambulance camper) do concern me.

As a tourist doing normal touristy things, what are the chances of a scenario like this taking place i.e. blundering into somewhere you're not welcome. And what would be the consequences? I note the poster above "opted" to leave which suggests nothing drastic took place..,

[NDA]

I've never had a reason to go. I don't know anyone there and it's not a tourist hotspot as far as I'm aware.

I would also confess to not being an expert on the subtleties of the political divides there either, so I'd be a little anxious given how passionate some are to belong to one side or another.