Mainland Brits, how many of you have been to N Ireland?
Discussion
I've been, back in 90/91. I lived there for 6 months, a lovely des res called Bessbrook mill down in what was known then as bandit country. We often went for long walks in the country, spoke to lots of locals, some friendlier than others. Often we would go for a walk & then jump on a chopper to come back, sometimes a chopper would take us out for the day & we would walk & come back a few days later. Great times, I miss my GPMG with 300 rounds, the first 50 were armour piercing, even got a medal at the end of the holiday.
I've been over a couple times visiting friends in the Bangor/Newtonards area, what I understand was proper bandit country back in the day (this was after the Good Friday Agreement etc)
Attended a (catholic) wedding and couldn't imagine a more welcoming friendly group of people. It wasn't hard to spot clues from the history of the area but it was hard to imagine how it happened
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Attended a (catholic) wedding and couldn't imagine a more welcoming friendly group of people. It wasn't hard to spot clues from the history of the area but it was hard to imagine how it happened
.I've never had a reason to got to Northern Ireland or Ireland in the past. never given it a thought. I've not been to the Isle of mann (until next year when I got for the TT)
I've also never been to Jersey or Guernsey
But saying the North West 200 just finished I'm tempted to go to NI now to watch the racing next year also
I've also never been to Jersey or Guernsey
But saying the North West 200 just finished I'm tempted to go to NI now to watch the racing next year also
easytiger123 said:
February 27th 1985, N Ireland v England World Cup qualifier at Windsor Park. The sale of tickets to England fans was banned I think and my friend and I managed to pick up a couple from someone offering to sell them on a local radio programme. Stood in the Kop with all the N Irish fans. It was non-stop violence with fans fighting among themselves and trying to goad the police into storming the terrace to break it up, bottles flying everywhere. Never been so happy to get out of a stadium unscathed.
As for Belfast itself I remember going to a pub near the Europa Hotel (most bombed hotel in the world I think) and also staying in a little place near the botanic gardens and blagging our way into the student union at the University after the game. A memorable 24 hours I'll say that. Oh, and England won 1-0.
My Dad missed watching that on the telly because he had to go with my mum to the delivery room in order for me to pop out the next morning... As for Belfast itself I remember going to a pub near the Europa Hotel (most bombed hotel in the world I think) and also staying in a little place near the botanic gardens and blagging our way into the student union at the University after the game. A memorable 24 hours I'll say that. Oh, and England won 1-0.
Late 90's, work trip, one day, into Shorts Missile Systems in Belfast, recent new graduate engineer, spent most of the day s
tting ma pants!
Worst landing I ever had. Proper sideways.
Taxi driver took us past some streets with paintings of men holding guns up in the air, I bet they do that a lot to nervous looking idiots like I was!
tting ma pants! Worst landing I ever had. Proper sideways.
Taxi driver took us past some streets with paintings of men holding guns up in the air, I bet they do that a lot to nervous looking idiots like I was!
PurpleTurtle said:
The Giant's Causeway via Londonderry (or LondonDerry, as per many of the graffiti'd road signs), it was great.
I was in Cork to see U2 back in the early 80s. We were drinking with a load of locals who asked where I was from. 'London' I said and thought nothing of it.People said that they thought so because of my London accent.
It was only later when they realised I was from London, England that they looked puzzled.
They presumed I was from Londonderry as my accent was different to theirs.
Been to Belfast twice. Both times for work. The first time we landed in Belfast then were driven to Donegal. I remember the city being quite grim and many of the terraced houses had their doors ajar.
I asked our taxi driver about this. He told me it was so that anyone on the run from the police or army knew that the house was a safe place to hide. The owners would not give them up willingly to the authorities.
The second time was the MTV Awards in Belfast, a few years back. I remember everyone being so enthusiastic at our presence and desperate to show what a great place the city could be. There was a celeb party at the most bombed hotel but we were happy with a few quiet drinks back at our Hotel as we had early flights back.
I felt sad for the locals as they knew that they had a hard time convincing people that the place was ok
In the late 1980s, I worked for a well known pottery company and we had a number of concession shops within department stores. We had one in Belfast and two south of the border in Dublin.
I used to find that on my monthly visits the family who ran the store in Belfast were always very appreciative of me and my occasional colleagues coming over, they used to pick us up from the airport, frequently take us out for meals and couldn't have been more welcoming. I was once told that so few mainland British people would come over for fear of the "troubles".
My routine was such that I'd spend the first night in the Europa Hotel (!) and first thing the following morning catch the train from Belfast down to Dublin. It was described as an express but seemed to stop at every station on the way. Remember one occasion, the guard walking the carriages checking traveller's ticket singing. I looked down and was amazed to see that he was wearing his slippers! Such a lovely and relaxed way to travel.
I'm embarrassed to say that since the mid 1990s I haven't been back.
I used to find that on my monthly visits the family who ran the store in Belfast were always very appreciative of me and my occasional colleagues coming over, they used to pick us up from the airport, frequently take us out for meals and couldn't have been more welcoming. I was once told that so few mainland British people would come over for fear of the "troubles".
My routine was such that I'd spend the first night in the Europa Hotel (!) and first thing the following morning catch the train from Belfast down to Dublin. It was described as an express but seemed to stop at every station on the way. Remember one occasion, the guard walking the carriages checking traveller's ticket singing. I looked down and was amazed to see that he was wearing his slippers! Such a lovely and relaxed way to travel.
I'm embarrassed to say that since the mid 1990s I haven't been back.
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