Northern Ireland.html



Northern Ireland Tuaisceart Éireann Norlin Airlann
Location of  Northern Ireland  (inset - orange) in the United Kingdom (camel) in the European continent  (white)
Capital (and largest city)		Belfast 54°35.456′N 5°50.4′W / 54.590933, -5.84
Official languages		English (de facto), Irish and Ulster Scots1
Demonym		Northern Irish
Government		Constitutional monarchy Consociationalism
-	Monarch	Queen Elizabeth II
-	Prime Minister (of the United Kingdom)	Gordon Brown MP
-	First Minister	Peter Robinson MLA
-	Deputy First Minister	Martin McGuinness MLA
-	Secretary of State	Shaun Woodward MP
Establishment
-	Government of Ireland Act	3 May 1921
Area
-	Total	13,843 km²  5,345 sq mi
Population
-	2006 estimate	1,741,600
-	2001 census	1,685,267
-	Density	122/km²  315/sq mi
GDP (PPP)		2002 estimate
-	Total	£33.2 billion
-	Per capita	£19,603
Currency		Pound sterling (GBP)
Time zone		GMT (UTC+0)
-	Summer (DST)	BST (UTC+1)
Internet TLD		.uk2
Calling code		+443
1	Officially recognised languages: Northern Ireland has no official language; the use of English has been established through precedent. Irish and Ulster Scots are officially recognised minority languages
2	.ie, in common with the Republic of Ireland, and also .eu, as part of the European Union. ISO 3166-1 is GB, but .gb is unused.
3	+44 is always followed by 28 when calling landlines. The code is 028 within the UK and 048 from the Republic of Ireland.

Northern Ireland (Irish: Tuaisceart Éireann, Ulster Scots: Norlin Airlann) is a country which is part of the United Kingdom,¹ lying in the northeast of Ireland, covering 5,459 square miles (14,139 km²), about a sixth of the island's total area.² It shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west. At the time of the UK Census in April 2001, its population was 1,685,000, constituting between a quarter and a third of the island's total population and about 3% of the population of the United Kingdom.^{citation needed} Northern Ireland consists of six of the nine counties of the historic Irish province of Ulster. In the UK, it is generally known as one of the four Home Nations and is the only one that is not located on the island of Great Britain.

Northern Ireland was established as a distinct administrative subdivision of the United Kingdom on 3 May 1921 under the Government of Ireland Act 1920.³ For over 50 years it was the only part of the UK to have its own form of devolved government until it was suspended in 1972.⁴ Northern Ireland's current devolved government bodies, the Northern Ireland Assembly and Executive were established by the Northern Ireland Act 1998 but were suspended several times until being restored on 8 May 2007.⁵⁶ Northern Ireland's legal system descends from the pre-1921 Irish legal system. It is based on common law. Northern Ireland is a distinct jurisdiction, separate from England and Wales and Scotland.⁷

Northern Ireland was for many years the site of a violent and bitter ethno-political conflict between those claiming to represent Nationalists, who are predominantly Roman Catholic, and those claiming to represent Unionists, who are predominantly Protestant.⁸ In general, Nationalists want the unification of Ireland, with Northern Ireland joining the rest of Ireland⁹¹⁰ and Unionists want it to remain part of the United Kingdom.¹¹ Protestants are in the majority in Northern Ireland, though Roman Catholics represent a significant minority.¹² In general, Protestants consider themselves British and Catholics see themselves as Irish but there are some who see themselves as both British and Irish. In addition to UK citizenship, people from Northern Ireland are also entitled to Irish (i.e. Republic of Ireland) citizenship (see Citizenship and identity). The campaigns of violence have become known popularly as The Troubles. The majority of both sides of the community have had no direct involvement in the violent campaigns waged. Since the signing of the Belfast Agreement (also known as the Good Friday Agreement or the G.F.A.) in 1998, many of the major paramilitary groups have either been on ceasefire or have declared their war to be over.

History

Main article: History of Northern Ireland

For events before 1922 see Ulster or History of Ireland.

Signing of the Ulster Covenant in 1912 in opposition to Home Rule.

The area now known as Northern Ireland has had a diverse history. From serving as the bedrock of Irish resistance in the era of the plantations of Queen Elizabeth and James I in other parts of Ireland, it became the subject of major planting of Scottish and English settlers after the Flight of the Earls in 1607 (when the Gaelic aristocracy fled to Catholic Europe).

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 government and monarchy based in London. In the early 20th century, Unionists, led by Sir Edward Carson (generally regarded as the founder of Northern Ireland), opposed the introduction of Home Rule in Ireland. Unionists were in a minority on the island of Ireland as a whole, but were a majority in the northern province of Ulster, 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. These six counties, containing an overall unionist majority, would later form Northern Ireland.

The clash between the House of Commons and House of Lords over the controversial budget of Chancellor of the Exchequer David Lloyd-George produced the Parliament Act 1911, which enabled the veto of the Lords to be overturned. Given that the Lords had been the unionists' main guarantee that a home rule act would not be enacted, because of the majority of pro-unionist peers in the House, the Parliament Act made Home Rule a more likely prospect. Opponents to Home Rule, from Conservative Party leaders like Andrew Bonar Law to militant unionists in Ireland, threatened the use of violence, producing the Larne Gun Running incident in 1914, when they smuggled thousands of rifles and rounds of ammunition from Imperial Germany for the Ulster Volunteers. The prospect of civil war in Ireland loomed.

In 1914, the Third Home Rule Act, which contained provision for a temporary partition, received the Royal Assent. Its implementation was suspended for the duration of the intervening First World War, which was expected to last only a few weeks, but, in fact, lasted four years.

By the end of the war, the Act was seen as dead in the water, with public opinion in the majority nationalist community having moved from a demand for home rule to something more substantial: independence. David 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-Ireland parliament.¹³

From 'Partition' to 'The Troubles'

Main article: The Troubles

The island of Ireland was partitioned in 1921 under the terms of the Government of Ireland Act 1920.¹⁴ Six of the nine Ulster counties in the north-east formed Northern Ireland and the remaining three counties (including County Donegal, despite it having a large Protestant minority as well as it being the most northern county in all of Ireland) joined those of Leinster, Munster and Connacht to form Southern Ireland. Whilst Southern Ireland had only a brief existence between 1921 and 1922, a period dominated by the Anglo-Irish War and its aftermath, Northern Ireland was to continue on.

Signature page of the Anglo-Irish Treaty.

Northern Ireland provisionally became an autonomous part of the Irish Free State on 6 December 1922. However, as expected, the Parliament of Northern Ireland chose, under the terms of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, to opt out of the Irish Free State the following day.¹⁵ Shortly after Northern Ireland had exercised its opt out of the Irish Free State, a Boundary Commission was established to decide on the territorial boundaries between the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland. Though leaders in Dublin expected a substantial reduction in the territory of Northern Ireland (with nationalist border areas moving to the Free State), the Boundary Commission decided against this; in fact the unpublished report had recommended that land should be ceded from Southern Ireland to Northern Ireland. To prevent argument, this report was suppressed, and the initial 6-county border was approved by the Dáil in Dublin on 10 December 1925 by a vote of 71 to 20.¹⁶

In June 1940, to encourage the Irish state to join with the Allies, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill indicated to the Taoiseach Éamon de Valera that the United Kingdom would push for Irish unity, but believing that Churchill could not deliver, de Valera declined the offer.¹⁷ (The British did not inform the Northern Ireland government that they had made the offer to the Dublin government, and De Valera's rejection was not publicized until 1970).

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.

The Troubles, starting in the late 1960s, consisted of about thirty years of recurring acts of intense violence between elements of Northern Ireland's nationalist community (principally Roman Catholic) and unionist community (principally Protestant) during which 3,254 people were killed.¹⁸ The conflict was caused by the disputed status of Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom and the domination of the minority nationalist community, and discrimination against them, by the unionist majority. The violence was characterised by the armed campaigns of paramilitary groups, including the Provisional IRA campaign of 1969-1997 which was aimed at the end of British rule in Northern Ireland and the creation of a new "all-Ireland", Irish Republic, and the Ulster Volunteer Force, formed in 1966 in response to the perceived erosion of both the British character and unionist domination of Northern Ireland. The state security forces--the British Army and the police (the Royal Ulster Constabulary)--were also involved in the violence. The British government's point of view is that its forces were neutral in the conflict, trying to uphold law and order in Northern Ireland and the right of the people of Northern Ireland to democratic self-determination. Irish republicans, however, regarded the state forces as "combatants" in the conflict, alleging collusion between the state forces and the loyalist paramilitaries as proof of this. The "Ballast" investigation by the Police Ombudsman has confirmed that British forces, and in particular the RUC, did collude with loyalist paramilitaries, were involved in murder, and did obstruct the course of justice when such claims had previously been investigated,¹⁹ although the extent to which such collusion occurred is still hotly disputed, with Unionists claiming that reports of collusion are either false or highly exaggerated. See also the section below on Collusion by Security Forces and loyalist paramilitaries.

As a consequence of the worsening security situation autonomous regional government for Northern Ireland was suspended in 1972. Alongside the violence, there was a political deadlock between the major political parties in Northern Ireland, including those who condemned violence, over the future status of Northern Ireland and the form of government there should be within Northern Ireland. A plebiscite within Northern Ireland on whether it should remain in the United Kingdom, or form part of a united Ireland, was held in 1973. The vote went heavily in favour (98.9%) of maintaining the status quo with approximately 57.5% of the total electorate voting in support, but only 1% of Catholics voted following a boycott organised by the SDLP. ²⁰

Recent History

Main article: Northern Ireland peace process

The Troubles were brought to an uneasy end by a peace process which included the declaration of ceasefires by most paramilitary organisations and the complete decommissioning of their weapons, the reform of the police, and the corresponding withdrawal of army troops from the streets and from sensitive border areas such as South Armagh and Fermanagh, as agreed by the signatories to the Belfast Agreement (commonly known as the "Good Friday Agreement"). This reiterated the long-held British position, which had never before been fully acknowledged by successive Irish governments, that Northern Ireland will remain within the United Kingdom until a majority votes otherwise. Bunreacht na hÉireann, the constitution of the Irish state, was amended in 1999 to remove a claim of the "Irish nation" to sovereignty over the whole of Ireland (in Article 2), a claim qualified by an acknowledgement that Ireland could only exercise legal control over the territory formerly known as the Irish Free State. The new Articles 2 and 3, added to the Constitution to replace the earlier articles, implicitly acknowledge that the status of Northern Ireland, and its relationships within the rest of the United Kingdom and with Ireland, would only be changed with the agreement of a majority of voters in both jurisdictions Ireland (voting separately). This aspect was also central to the Belfast Agreement which was signed in 1998 and ratified by referenda held simultaneously in both Northern Ireland and the Republic. At the same time, the British Government recognised for the first time, as part of the prospective, the so-called "Irish dimension": the principle that the people of the island of Ireland as a whole have the right, without any outside interference, to solve the issues between North and South by mutual consent.²¹ The latter statement was key to winning support for the agreement from nationalists and republicans. It also established a devolved power-sharing government within Northern Ireland where the government must consist of both unionist and nationalist parties.

These institutions were suspended by the British Government in 2002 after Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) allegations of spying by people working for Sinn Féin at the Assembly (Stormontgate). The resulting case against the accused Sinn Féin member collapsed.

On 28 July 2005, the Provisional IRA declared an end to its campaign and has since decommissioned what is thought to be all of its arsenal. This final act of decommissioning was performed in accordance with the Belfast Agreement of 1998, and under the watch of the International Decommissioning Body and two external church witnesses. Many unionists, however, remain sceptical. This IRA decommissioning is in contrast to Loyalist paramilitaries who have so far failed to decommission many weapons. It is not thought that this will have a major effect on further political progress as political parties linked to Loyalist paramilitaries do not attract significant support and will not be in a position to form part of a government in the near future. Sinn Féin, on the other hand, with their (real and perceived) links to militant republicanism, are the largest nationalist party in Northern Ireland. See Independent International Commission on Decommissioning

Politicians elected to the Assembly at the 2003 Assembly Election were called together on 15 May 2006 under the Northern Ireland Act 2006²² for the purpose of electing a First Minister of Northern Ireland and a deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland and choosing the members of an Executive (before 25 November 2006) as a preliminary step to the restoration of devolved government in Northern Ireland.

Following the election held on 7 March 2007, devolved government returned to Northern Ireland on 8 May 2007 with DUP leader Ian Paisley and Sinn Féin deputy leader Martin McGuinness taking office as First Minister and Deputy First Minister, respectively.²³

Government and Politics

Main article: Elections in Northern Ireland

Parliament Buildings in Stormont, Belfast, seat of the assembly.

Northern Ireland has devolved government within the United Kingdom. There is a Northern Ireland Executive together with the 108 member Northern Ireland Assembly to deal with devolved matters with the UK Government and UK Parliament responsible for reserved matters. Elections to the Assembly are by single transferable vote with 6 representatives elected for each of the 18 Westminster constituencies.

Northern Ireland elects 18 MPs to the House of Commons though only 13 take their seats as the 5 Sinn Fein MPs refuse to take the oath to serve the Queen that is required of all MPs. The Northern Ireland Office represents the UK government in Northern Ireland on reserved matters and represents Northern Irish interests within the UK government. The Northern Ireland office is led by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, who sits in the Cabinet of the United Kingdom.

Demography and politics

Communities in Northern Ireland - 1991 census.

Northern Ireland

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Northern Ireland

Government First Minister: Peter Robinson Deputy First Minister: Martin McGuinness Northern Ireland Ministers Northern Ireland Executive Departments Executives: First - Suspended - Second National Assembly Committees List of Acts Statutory Rules Speaker: William Hay Members (MLA): 2007 - 2003 - 1998 Constituencies Elections: 2007 - 2003 - 1998 Other Public Bodies Northern Ireland Policing Board Parades Commission in the UK Her Majesty's Government Secretary of State: Shaun Woodward MP Northern Ireland Office Direct Rule Grand Committee Select Committee UK Parliament Commons Lords Privy Council Constituencies Acts Elections: 1979, 1983, 1987, 1992,        1997, 2001, 2005, 2009/10 in the EU European Parliament European Parliament constituency MEP Elections: 1979, 1984, 1989, 1994,        1999, 2004, 2009 Political parties Designated Unionist Democratic Unionist Party Ulster Unionist Party Progressive Unionist Party Conservatives Traditional Unionist Voice Designated Nationalist Sinn Féin Social Democratic and Labour Party Fianna Fáil Designated Other Alliance Party Green Party Related bodies North/South Ministerial Council British-Irish Council British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference Civic Forum for Northern Ireland Agreements St Andrews Agreement (2006) Belfast Agreement (1998) Segregation in Northern Ireland

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Main article: Politics of Northern Ireland

The main political divide in Northern Ireland is between Unionists who wish to see Northern Ireland continue as part of the United Kingdom and Nationalists /Republicans who wish to see Northern Ireland rejoin the rest of Ireland, independent from the United Kingdom. These two opposing views are linked to deeper cultural divisions: Unionists are overwhelmingly Protestant, descendants of mainly Scottish, English, Welsh and Huguenot settlers and indigenous Irishmen who had converted to one of the Protestant denominations, while Nationalists are predominantly Catholic and descend from the population predating the settlement, with a minority from Scottish Highlanders as well as some converts from Protestantism. Discrimination against nationalists under the Stormont government (1921–1972) gave rise to the nationalist civil rights movement in the 1960s.²⁴ Some Unionists argue that any discrimination was not just because of religious or political bigotry, but also the result of more complex socio-economic, socio-political and geographical factors.²⁵ Whatever the cause, the existence of discrimination, and the manner in which Nationalist anger at it was handled, was a major contributing factor which led to the long-running conflict known as the Troubles. The political unrest went through its most violent phase between 1968 and 1994.²⁶

The population of Northern Ireland was estimated as being 1,710,300 on 30 June 2004. In the 2001 census, 45.6% of the population identified as belonging to Protestant denominations (of which 20.7% Presbyterian, 15.3% Church of Ireland), 40.3% identified as Catholic, 0.3% identified with non-Christian religions and 13.9% identified with no religion.²⁷ In terms of community background, 53.1% of the Northern Irish population came from a Protestant background, 43.8% came from a Catholic background, 0.4% from non-Christian backgrounds and 2.7% non-religious backgrounds.²⁸²⁹ The population is forecast to pass the 1.8 million mark by 2011.³⁰

36% of the present-day population define themselves as Unionist, 24% as Nationalist and 40% define themselves as neither.³¹ According to a 2007 opinion poll, 66% express long term preference of the maintenance of Northern Ireland's membership of the United Kingdom (either directly ruled or with devolved government), while 23% express a preference for membership of a united Ireland.³² This discrepancy can be explained by the overwhelming preference among Protestants to remain a part of the UK (89%), while Catholic preferences are spread across a number of solutions to the constitutional question including remaining a part of the UK (39%), a united Ireland (47%), Northern Ireland becoming an independent state (6%), and those who "don't know" (7%).³³ Official voting figures, which reflect views on the "national question" along with issues of candidate, geography, personal loyalty and historic voting patterns, show 54% of Northern Ireland voters vote for Pro-Unionist parties, 42% vote for Pro-Nationalist parties and 4% vote "other". Opinion polls consistently show that the election results are not necessarily an indication of the electorate's stance regarding the constitutional status of Northern Ireland.

Most of the population of Northern Ireland are at least nominally Christian. The ethno-political loyalties are allied, though not absolutely, to the Roman Catholic and Protestant denominations and these are the labels used to categorise the opposing views. This is, however, becoming increasingly irrelevant as the Irish Question is very complicated. Many voters (regardless of religious affiliation) are attracted to Unionism's conservative policies, while other voters are instead attracted to the traditionally leftist, nationalist Sinn Féin and Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) and their respective party platforms for Democratic Socialism and Social Democracy. For the most part, Protestants feel a strong connection with Great Britain and wish for Northern Ireland to remain part of the United Kingdom. Catholics generally aspire to a United Ireland, or are less certain about how to solve the constitutional question. In the 2007 survey by Northern Ireland Life and Times, 39% of Northern Irish Catholics supported Northern Ireland remaining a part of the United Kingdom, either by direct rule (4%) or devolved government (35%).³⁴

Protestants have a slight majority in Northern Ireland, according to the latest Northern Ireland Census.³⁵ The make-up of the Northern Ireland Assembly reflects the appeals of the various parties within the population. Of the 108 MLA's, 55 are Unionists and 44 are Nationalists (the remaining nine are classified as "other"). The largest single religious denomination is the Roman Catholic Church, which comprises a plurality, followed by the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, the Church of Ireland (Anglican) and the Methodist Church.

Citizenship and identity

Further information: British nationality law and Irish nationality law

People from Northern Ireland are British citizens on the same basis as people from any other part of the United Kingdom. Additionally, they may be recognised as citizens of the Republic of Ireland.

The 1998 Belfast Agreement between the British and Irish governments provides that:

it is the birthright of all the people of Northern Ireland to identify themselves and be accepted as Irish or British, or both, as they may so choose, and accordingly [the two governments] confirm that their right to hold both British and Irish citizenship is accepted by both Governments and would not be affected by any future change in the status of Northern Ireland.

As a result of the Agreement, the Constitution of Ireland³⁶ was amended so that people born in Northern Ireland are entitled to be Irish citizens on the same basis as people from any other part of the island of Ireland.

Neither government, however, extends its citizenship to all persons born in Northern Ireland. Both governments exclude some people born in Northern Ireland (e.g. certain persons born in Northern Ireland neither of whose parents is a UK or Irish national).

In general, Protestants in Northern Ireland see themselves primarily as being British, while Roman Catholics regard themselves primarily as being Irish. Several studies and surveys performed between 1971 and 2006 show this.^{3738394041424344}

This does not however, account for the complex identities within Northern Ireland, given that many of the population regard themselves as "Ulster" or "Northern Irish", either primarily, or as a secondary identity. A 1999 survey showed that 51% of Protestants felt "Not at all Irish" and 41% only "weakly Irish" where 77% of Catholics polled said they felt "strongly Irish".⁴⁵

Executive Meeting

Recently however, in spite of the religious and traditional conflict of beliefs between unionist and nationalist polititic parties operating within the NI Assembly, the NI Executive had it's first meeting after a staunch 152-day abstention from meeting on Thursday the 20th of November, 2008. This was significant because MLAs(Members of the Legislative Assembly) that were part of the Executive were receiving funding for work that wasn't being carried out and also a large political backlog of work was left to be done by the largely inactive Executive.

The Current First Minister and Deputy First Minister for the NI Executive are Peter Robinson(Democratic Unionist Party) and Martin McGuinness(Sinn Fein). These positions however only differ in name and are equally imprtant and authoritive.

Symbols

See also: Northern Ireland flags issue

The Union Flag

Flag of Northern Ireland (unofficial since 1972).

Flag of Ireland

Former Governmental Coat of Arms of Northern Ireland 1925-72

Today, Northern Ireland comprises a diverse patchwork of communities, whose national loyalties are represented in some areas by flags flown from lamp posts. The Union Flag and Northern Ireland Flag therefore appear in some loyalist areas, with the Irish Tricolour appearing in some republican areas. Even kerbstones in some areas are painted red-white-blue or green-white-orange (or gold), depending on whether local people express unionist/loyalist or nationalist/republican sympathies.

The only official flag is the Union Flag.⁴⁶ The Northern Ireland flag was officially the former Governmental Northern Ireland banner (also known as the "Ulster Banner" or "Red Hand Flag") and was based on the arms of the former Parliament of Northern Ireland, and was used by the Government of Northern Ireland and its agencies between 1953 and 1972. Since 1972, it has no official status. It remains, however used uniquely to represent Northern Ireland in certain sporting events. The arms from which the Ulster Banner derives were themselves based on the flag of Ulster.

The Union Flag and the Ulster Banner are mainly used by Unionists.⁴⁷ Nationalists generally eschew symbols which uniquely represent Northern Ireland; some instead use the Irish Tricolour, particularly at sporting events. Many people, however, prefer to avoid flags altogether because of their divisive nature. Paramilitary groups on both sides have also developed their own flags. Some unionists also occasionally use the flags of secular and religious organisations to which they belong.

Some groups, including the Irish Rugby Football Union and the Church of Ireland have used the Flag of St. Patrick as a symbol of Ireland which lacks nationalist or unionist connotations. However, it is felt by some to be a loyalist flag, as it was used to represent Ireland when the whole island was part of the UK and is used by some British army regiments. Foreign flags are also found, such as the Palestinian flags in some Nationalist areas and Israeli flags in some Unionist areas, which represent general comparisons made by both sides with conflicts in the wider world.

The United Kingdom national anthem God Save the Queen is often played at state events in Northern Ireland. At some cross-community events, however, the Londonderry Air (also known as Danny Boy) may be played as a neutral substitute.

At the Commonwealth Games, the Northern Ireland team uses the Ulster Banner as its flag and Danny Boy / A Londonderry Air is used as its national anthem. The Northern Ireland football team also uses the Ulster Banner as its flag but uses God Save The Queen as its national anthem.⁴⁸ Major Gaelic Athletic Association matches are opened by the Ireland national anthem, Amhrán na bhFiann (The Soldiers Song), which is also used by some other all-Ireland sporting organisations.⁴⁹⁵⁰ Since 1995, the Ireland national rugby union team has used a specially commissioned song, Ireland's Call, in place of, or alongside, the Ireland national anthem at international matches.⁵¹⁵²

Northern Irish murals have become well-known features of Northern Ireland, depicting past and present divisions, both also documenting peace and cultural diversity. Almost 2,000 murals have been documented in Northern Ireland since the 1970s (see Conflict Archive on the Internet/Murals).

Geography and climate

Map of Northern Ireland

Main articles: Geography of Ireland and Geography of the United Kingdom

Northern Ireland was covered by an ice sheet for most of the last ice age and on numerous previous occasions, the legacy of which can be seen in the extensive coverage of drumlins in Counties Fermanagh, Armagh, Antrim and particularly Down. The centrepiece of Northern Ireland's geography is Lough Neagh, at 151 square miles (392 km²) the largest freshwater lake both on the island of Ireland and in the British Isles. A second extensive lake system is centred on Lower and Upper Lough Erne in Fermanagh. The largest island of Northern Ireland is Rathlin, off the Antrim coast. Strangford Lough is the largest inlet in the British Isles, covering 150 km² (58 sq mi).

There are substantial uplands in the Sperrin Mountains (an extension of the Caledonian fold mountains) with extensive gold deposits, granite Mourne Mountains and basalt Antrim Plateau, as well as smaller ranges in South Armagh and along the Fermanagh–Tyrone border. None of the hills are especially high, with Slieve Donard in the dramatic Mournes reaching 848 m (2782 ft), Northern Ireland's highest point. Belfast's most prominent peak is Cave Hill. The volcanic activity which created the Antrim Plateau also formed the eerily geometric pillars of the Giant's Causeway on the north Antrim coast. Also in north Antrim are the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge, Mussenden Temple and the Glens of Antrim.

The Giant's Causeway, County Antrim.

The Lower and Upper River Bann, River Foyle and River Blackwater form extensive fertile lowlands, with excellent arable land also found in North and East Down, although much of the hill country is marginal and suitable largely for animal husbandry.

The valley of the River Lagan is dominated by Belfast, whose metropolitan area includes over a third of the population of Northern Ireland, with heavy urbanisation and industrialisation along the Lagan Valley and both shores of Belfast Lough.

Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge.

The whole of Northern Ireland has a temperate maritime climate, rather wetter in the west than the east, although cloud cover is persistent across the region. The weather is unpredictable at all times of the year, and although the seasons are distinct, they are considerably less pronounced than in interior Europe or the eastern seaboard of North America. Average daytime maximums in Belfast are 6.5 °C (43.7 °F) in January and 17.5 °C (63.5 °F) in July. The damp climate and extensive deforestation in the 16^th and 17^th centuries resulted in much of the region being covered in rich green grassland.

Highest maximum temperature: 30.8 °C (87.4 °F) at Knockarevan, near Garrison, County Fermanagh on 30 June 1976 and at Belfast on 12 July 1983.

Lowest minimum temperature: -17.5 °C (0.5 °F) at Magherally, near Banbridge, County Down on 1 January 1979.⁵³

Further reading

Betts, N.L. in Hackney, P. 1992. Stewart & Corry's Flora of the North-east of Ireland. Third Edition. Institute of Irish Studies. The Queen's University of Belfast. ISBN 0 85389 446 9 (HB)

Counties

Main article: Counties of Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland consists of six historic counties: County Antrim, County Armagh, County Down, County Fermanagh, County Londonderry,⁵⁴ County Tyrone

Silent Valley Reservoir, County Down.

These counties are no longer used for local government purposes; instead there are twenty-six districts of Northern Ireland which have different geographical extents, even in the case of those named after the counties from which they derive their name. Fermanagh District Council most closely follows the borders of the county from which it takes its name. Coleraine Borough Council, on the other hand, derives its name from the town of Coleraine in County Londonderry.

Lower Lough Erne, County Fermanagh

Although counties are no longer used for governmental purpose, they remain a popular means of describing where places are. They are officially used while applying for an Irish passport, which requires the applicant to state his or her 'county of birth' - which then appears in both Irish and English on the passport's information page, as opposed to the town or city of birth on the United Kingdom passport. The Gaelic Athletic Association still uses the counties as its primary means of organisation and fields representative teams of each GAA county.

The county boundaries still appear on Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland Maps and the Phillips Street Atlases, among others. With their decline in official use, there is often confusion surrounding towns and cities which lie near county boundaries, such as Belfast and Lisburn, which are split between counties Down and Antrim (the majorities of both cities, however, are in Antrim)

Belfast City Hall

Cities

There are 5 major settlements with city status in Northern Ireland:

• Armagh
• Belfast
• Derry⁵⁵
• Lisburn
• Newry

Carrickfergus Castle - a Norman castle built in 1177

Towns 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

Donaghadee Harbour and lighthouse

• Ahoghill, Antrim, Annalong, Annaclone
• Ballycastle, Ballyclare, Ballykelly, Ballymena, Ballymoney, Ballynahinch, Banbridge, Bangor, Bushmills
• Carnmoney, Carrickfergus, Carryduff Castledawson, Castlerock, Coalisland, Comber, Coleraine, Cookstown, Craigavon, Crossmaglen, Crumlin,Corbet, Cushendall
• Donaghadee, Downpatrick, Dromore, Dundonald, Dungannon, Dungiven, Dromore, Donaghcloney
• Enniskillen
• Glengormley, Garvagh, Gilford
• Garrison
• Hillsborough, Holywood
• Kilkeel
• Larne, Limavady, Lurgan, Loughbrickland
• Magherafelt, Macosquin
• Newcastle, Newtownards, Newtownstewart
• Omagh
• Portrush, Portstewart, Portadown, Portaferry, Poyntzpass, Portballintrae
• Rasharkin, Rathfriland
• Strabane, Scarva,
• Warrenpoint

Variations in geographic nomenclature

Main article: Alternative names for Northern Ireland

Many people inside and outside Northern Ireland use other names for Northern Ireland, depending on their point of view. These are grouped under sectarian headings below, however, most of these phrases are often also used as synonyms for Northern Ireland in non-sectarian contexts.

Unionist/Loyalist

• Ulster (Ulaidh) is strictly the historic province of Ulster, six of its nine counties are in Northern Ireland. The term "Ulster" is widely used by the Unionist community and the British press as shorthand for Northern Ireland.⁵⁶ In the past, calls were made for Northern Ireland's name to be changed to Ulster. This proposal was formally considered by the Government of Northern Ireland in 1937 and again in 1949 but no change was made.⁵⁷

• The Province (an Chúige) refers literally the historic Irish province of Ulster but today is used widely, within this community, as shorthand for Northern Ireland.⁵⁸ United Kingdom Government documents (when referring to England and Scotland as countries and to Wales as "The Principality", typically refer to Northern Ireland as "the Province"^{citation needed}. The BBC, in its editorial guidance for Reporting the United Kingdom, states that "the province" is an appropriate secondary synonym for Northern Ireland, "Ulster" is not. It also deprecates the use of the term "British" in favour of "people of Northern Ireland", and the term "mainland" when referring to Great Britain in relation to Northern Ireland⁵⁹

Nationalist/Republican

• North of Ireland (Tuaisceart na hÉireann) - 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. (The northernmost point in Ireland, in County Donegal, is in fact in the Republic.)⁶⁰

• North-East Ireland (Oirthuaisceart Éireann) - used in the same way as the "North of Ireland" is used.

• The Six Counties (na Sé Chontae) - language used by republicans e.g. Republican Sinn Féin, which avoids using the name given by the British-enacted Government of Ireland Act 1920. (the Republic is similarly described as the Twenty-Six Counties.)⁶¹ Some of the users of these terms contend that using the official name of the region would imply acceptance of the legitimacy of the Government of Ireland Act.

• The Occupied Six Counties. The state of Ireland, whose legitimacy is not recognised by republicans opposed to the Belfast Agreement, is described as "The Free State", referring to the Irish Free State, which gained independence (as a Dominion) in 1922.⁶²

• British-Occupied Ireland. Similar in tone to the Occupied Six Counties this term is used by more dogmatic anti-Good Friday Agreement republicans who still hold that the First Dáil was the last legitimate government of Ireland and that all governments since have been foreign imposed usurpations of Irish national self-determination.⁶³

• Fourth Green Field (An Cheathrú Gort Glas). From the song Four Green Fields by Tommy Makem which describes Ireland as divided with one of the four green fields (the traditional provinces of Ireland) being In strangers hands, referring to the partition of Ireland.

Other

• The North (An Tuaisceart) - used to describe Northern Ireland in the same way that "The South" is used to describe the Republic.
• Norn Iron (previously rendered "Norn Irn")⁶⁴⁶⁵⁶⁶ - is an informal and affectionate local nickname used by both nationalists and unionists to refer to Northern Ireland, derived from the pronunciation of the words "Northern Ireland" in an exaggerated Ulster accent (particularly one from the Greater Belfast area). The phrase is seen as a light-hearted way to refer to the province, based as it is on regional pronunciation. Often refers to the Northern Ireland national football team.
• The Black North - pejorative^{citation needed}, as a name used by people from the South.

Use of language for geography

Free Derry mural.

Notwithstanding the ancient realm of Dál Riata which extended into Scotland, dis