Mainland Brits, how many of you have been to N Ireland?
Discussion
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?
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
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.
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.
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.
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.The Antrim coastline is truly spectacular and well worth the effort. The towns, by and large, were stholes.
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.
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.
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.
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!
I won't forget the last night, on a campsite. The chemical toilet disposal facility had a sign on the door...slops!
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