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

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

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Discussion

bloomen

Original Poster:

6,853 posts

158 months

Monday 15th May 2017
quotequote all
I am a mainland British person. I am also literally the only person I know who has ever been to Northern Ireland. I find this rather strange. Everyone I mentioned it to seemed to find it weirdly exotic.

Masses had been to Dublin but it never seemed to occur to them to head across the border.

What of yourselves?

Edited by bloomen on Monday 15th May 19:51

Smiler.

11,752 posts

229 months

Monday 15th May 2017
quotequote all
FG Wilson factory in Larne.

Exotic it wasn't.

wack

2,103 posts

205 months

Monday 15th May 2017
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No never been, I have been to Southern Ireland , it may be because Northern Ireland still makes me think of bombs and shootings and not much of a tourist destination which is probably a long way from the truth in the 21st century

psi310398

9,036 posts

202 months

Monday 15th May 2017
quotequote all
Yes, once for work. In and out of Belfast in a day.

My brother lived there for a couple of years though.

But, yes, military folk apart, I know hardly anyone who's been there.

eltax91

9,842 posts

205 months

Monday 15th May 2017
quotequote all
Belfast a truck load of times in the name of work

alorotom

11,908 posts

186 months

Monday 15th May 2017
quotequote all
Yeah part of a family holiday touring northern and Southern Ireland in about 1997ish

I remember it as being quite grim and have no overriding desire to return even though my BIL is from there and his father keeps inviting us over to stay for a few days

deckster

9,630 posts

254 months

Monday 15th May 2017
quotequote all
I spent a few days there with a mate maybe 20 years back. Long ago that the border still had army checkpoints.

The Antrim coastline is truly spectacular and well worth the effort. The towns, by and large, were stholes.

motco

15,919 posts

245 months

Monday 15th May 2017
quotequote all
wack said:
No never been, I have been to Southern Ireland , it may be because Northern Ireland still makes me think of bombs and shootings and not much of a tourist destination which is probably a long way from the truth in the 21st century
Exactly this!

clockworks

5,292 posts

144 months

Monday 15th May 2017
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I spent a few days there for work, upgrading ATMs for the Y2K problems that never happened. Seemed peaceful enough, but I stayed in the hotel at night.

Joratk

432 posts

109 months

Monday 15th May 2017
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Live just outside Belfast and I feel a hell of a lot safer in it than a lot of mainland cities I've been in! Belfast City Centre is now a rather affluent and fun place to be, lots of nice pubs, restaurants and shops and great nightlife. Venture down to the mournes or up to the north coast and there are plenty of nice things to see and do also.

bobbo89

5,151 posts

144 months

Monday 15th May 2017
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Yep, family holiday back in the late 90's / early noughties.

My main memory is of repeatedly driving up and down the same section of dual carriageway trying to spot the wheel trim that had fallen off the rental car.

surveyor

17,768 posts

183 months

Monday 15th May 2017
quotequote all
A few times 20 years ago on holiday. About every 5 weeks now on work.

It's a gorgeous bit of the world. People are mainly great. There are some rough areas as any UK city.

Some great driving roads.

I'm wary of meeting contacts in Belfast. They can really drink.....

ch108

1,127 posts

132 months

Monday 15th May 2017
quotequote all
I'm just back from the Northwest 200. My first time in N.Ireland. Got the ferry from Cairnryan, visited Belfast and stayed in Londonderry for the duration of our stay. Watched the racing in Portstewart, visited Giants Causeway and also drove along the north coast to Ballycastle and went to the Joey Dunlop Memorial garden in Ballymoney.

I really enjoyed it, and you can tell that work has been done to try and attract tourists. Every local we encountered was friendly and helpful. The customer service in everything from the shops, bars, restaurants and hotel was a step above the sometimes sullen service you encounter elsewhere in the UK.

With the troubled past mainly behind them, (although I daresay there will still be the odd incident here and there and it will have its bad bits like other parts of the UK), it seems the Northern Irish are pleased that people are taking the time to visit their country.

Like alot of people, N.Ireland wasn't a place I would have considered going even 10 or 15 years ago, but I am glad I went. It did seem strange not to have visited somewhere so close to my home in Scotland.




nicanary

9,751 posts

145 months

Monday 15th May 2017
quotequote all
deckster said:
I spent a few days there with a mate maybe 20 years back. Long ago that the border still had army checkpoints.

The Antrim coastline is truly spectacular and well worth the effort. The towns, by and large, were stholes.
Indeed the towns are, by and large, as you describe. Investment money tends to be spent on creating jobs and peace initiatives. Infrastructure comes a distant last. I live in a typical Prod-dominated former textile-manufacturing town. It's a total dump. Nothing to do, nothing to see. I can't believe they expect to attract tourists.

Life is all about Loyalist culture - they live and breathe it, it's more important to them than anything else. The 12th July is bigger than Christmas for the really obssessed. I moved here from the mainland in 1990, and I still feel like an outsider in a foreign country. On the whole, the lower classes don't have a clue about life in GB, indeed I have heard it said that some think all the bonfires and parades are British culture, and seem mystified if it's criticised.

Lovely countryside though. Very friendly people - the sort who'll say hello in the street to a stranger just because they can. It seems odd to a typical older Englishman. As many journalists have described it - like the mainland 50 years ago.

ASA569

430 posts

88 months

Monday 15th May 2017
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Attended a conference in Coleraine many years ago and did a few touristy type things whilst we were there such as the Giant's Causeway and the Old Bushmills Distillery.

citizensm1th

8,371 posts

136 months

Monday 15th May 2017
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spent a bit of time in londonderry fun it was not


never been back and have no intention of ever returning

Eddie Strohacker

3,879 posts

85 months

Monday 15th May 2017
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Few times. My brother's missus is from County Down. Lovely bit of the world for the most part, especially out of the city. The bds can't half drink though.

LimaDelta

6,507 posts

217 months

Monday 15th May 2017
quotequote all
Yep, though only once on a bike tour of the whole of Ireland. Ferry to Belfast, then along the north coast. Saw the H&W shipyard and Giants Causeway. Rode the NW200 route and then across the border. Some amazing scenery and roads.

Jimmy Recard

17,540 posts

178 months

Monday 15th May 2017
quotequote all
One interesting thing is the idea (suggested by several on this thread) that there is such a thing as Northern and Southern Ireland

Southern Ireland would be/is a natural (rather than political) geographic construct.

I am a mainland Brit and haven't been to Norn Iron, but I was thinking just today on my way home how I should and that I'd like to.

davhill

5,263 posts

183 months

Monday 15th May 2017
quotequote all
Yep, went to see my mate in Templepatrick. The Mrs. and I were in a motorhome and camped on his drive. Took in the Giant's Causeway, which was as imposing as it was weird. Three very wet days in May.

I won't forget the last night, on a campsite. The chemical toilet disposal facility had a sign on the door...slops!