HISTORY

Northern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom lying in the northeast of the island of Ireland, covering 5,459 square miles (14,139 km², about a sixth of the island's total area). As of the UK census in April 2001, its population was 1,685,000, between a quarter and a third of the island's total population.


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 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.

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.

In United Kingdom law, Ireland was partitioned in 1921 under the terms of the Government of Ireland Act 1920. Six of the nine Ulster counties in the north-east formed Northern Ireland and the remaining three counties joined those of Leinster, Munster and Connacht to form Southern Ireland.

LANGUAGE

The Irish language (also known as Irish Gaelic) is a minority language in Northern Ireland (known in Irish as "Tuaisceart Éireann"). The dialect spoken there is known as Ulster Irish.

PATRON SAINT

Saint Patrick

DEMOGRAPHICS

Population

1,685,267
Place of birth

Northern Ireland: 1,534,268 (91.0%)
England: 61,609 (3.7%)
Scotland: 16,772 (1.0%)
Wales: 3,008 (0.2%)
Republic of Ireland: 39,051 (2.3%)
Elsewhere in the EU: 10,355 (0.6%)
Elsewhere: 20,204 (1.2%)
Ethnicity

White: 1,670,988 (99.15%)
Chinese: 4,145 (0.25%)
Mixed: 3,319 (0.20%)
Irish Traveller: 1,710 (0.10%)
Indian: 1,567 (0.09%)
Other Ethnic Group: 1,290 (0.08%)
Pakistani: 666 (0.04%)
Black African: 494 (0.03%)
Other Black: 387 (0.02%)
Black Caribbean: 255 (0.02%)
Bangladeshi: 252 (0.01%)
Other Asian: 194 (0.01%)

Religious Affiliations in Northern Ireland 1961–2001
Religions 1961 1991 2001
Roman Catholic 34.9% 38.4% 40.3%
Presbyterian (Protestant) 29.0% 21.4% 20.7%
Church of Ireland (Protestant) 24.2% 17.7% 15.3%
Other Religions (including other Protestant) 9.3% 11.5% 9.9%
Not Stated 2.0% 7.3% 9.0%
None 0.0% 3.8% 5.0%


POLITICAL REPRESENTATION

Northern Ireland currently has has the following political representation:
- 18 seats in the United Kingdom House of Commons (currently 10 unionist, 5 republican (abstentionist), 3 nationalist)
- a number of Unionists have been appointed by Tony Blair to the United Kingdom House of Lords including Eileen Paisley and David Trimble. Currently no republicans or nationalists have been appointed to this legislative body. On 7 Mar 2007 the House of Commons voted in favour of replacing the Lords with an elected chamber. This might have the effect of giving republicans/nationalists representation in the upper house at some time in the future. However, it was a non-binding vote. Following the disestablishment of the Church of Ireland in 1871 that church no longer sends representatives to the House of Lords unlike the Church of England which continues to send 2 archbishops and 24 bishops who are known as Lords Spiritual. Bishops of the Roman Catholic church are not represented.
- the Northern Ireland Assembly has 108 Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) (currently 55 unionists, 28 republicans, 16 nationalists, 9 others),
which had its powers restored on 8 May 2007.
- 3 seats in the European Parliament (currently two unionist, one republican)
- at local level there are currently 26 district councils - on 22 November 2005 Peter Hain, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, announced proposals to reduce the number of councils to seven [5].
Note: As the United Kingdom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland is a constitutional monarchy there is no election for Head of State.
Following the Act of Settlement 1701 the throne passed to the descendants of Electress Sophia of Hanover, a granddaughter of James I of England. Only the descendants of Sophia who were Anglican or Protestant, and had not married a Roman Catholic could succeed the throne. Roman Catholics and those married to Roman Catholics are barred from ascending the throne "for ever".

FAMOUS PEOPLE

Arthur Wellesley, the first Duke of Wellington, was born in Dublin in 1769. In 1809 he was sent to assume command in Portugal. Wellington gained military distinction in the Peninsular Campaigns during the French Wars, culminating in the victory at Waterloo. He was raised to the peerage as the Duke of Wellington in recognition of his achievements and he sat in the House of Lords for the rest of his life. It is said that he never admitted to his Irish birth.

Eric Dorman Smith (General Dorman O'Gowan), was born at Bellamont Forest, Cootehill,on the 24th of July 1895. In World War II Chink is best remembered for his role in the North African campaign, where he was appointed Major-General & Acting Chief of Staff, under General Sir Claude Aunchinleck.

Theobald Wolfe Tone Eighteenth-century Protestant lawyer was one of the few leaders of his time who was well-respected in Dublin and Belfast. In the autumn of 1791, he called for Irish independence and a rapprochement between Protestants and Catholics. Tone was involved in the creation of the Society of United Irishmen, which had chapters in Belfast and Dublin. In 1798, the Irish nationalists rose against British occupation in the belief that a French invasion was imminent. The rebellion was crushed by British forces. Tone was captured and sentenced to be hanged, but he chose suicide over submitting to British justice, and slit his own throat.

Michael Collins was born on 16th Oct 1890 at a place called Sam's Cross outside Clonakilty, Co Cork. he took part in the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin. In 1921 Collins was a signatory to a Treaty bring to an end the war between Britain & Ireland. This treaty was not to the liking of all Irishmen and a civil war broke out. Collins had said at the signing "I may have signed my actual death warrant".". He was killed in an ambush at Beal na mBlath in County Cork on the 22nd August 1922. Prior to the treaty Collins was responsible for organising resistance to British rule in Ireland. His tactics are said to be the basis for all Guerrilla warfare.

Eamonn De Valera was born in Manhattan, New York on the 14th October 1882, son of a Spanish immigrant father and an Irish immigrant mother. He was a commandant in the 1916 Rising and had his death sentence commuted because the British authorities were unsure of his nationality and wanted to avoid an international incident with the United States. Elected as a Sinn Fein MP for East Clare in July 1917. He was elected as President of Ireland on the 25th
June 1959 at the age of 76, and held office until the 24th June 1973 having been re-elected on 1st July 1966. He died on the 29th of August 1975 at the age
of 92.

Actors:
Kenneth Charles Branagh (b. December 10, 1960) is an Emmy Award-winning, Academy Award nominated Northern Irish-born British actor and film director.

Pierce Brendan Brosnan OBE[1] (born May 16, 1953) is an Irish actor and producer who now holds American citizenship and is best known for portraying James Bond in four films: GoldenEye (1995), Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), The World Is Not Enough (1999) and Die Another Day (2002).

Daniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis (born 29 April 1957), is an Academy-Award winning and Golden Globe-award nominated actor. Born in London, England, he became an Irish citizen in 1993.

Colin James Farrell (born May 31, 1976) is an Irish actor who has appeared in several high-profile Hollywood films including Daredevil, Miami Vice, Minority Report, Phone Booth and S.W.A.T.

Evanna Lynch (born 16 August 1991) is an Irish actress from Termonfeckin, County Louth, Ireland. She lives with her father Donal, mother Marguerite, elder sisters Mairead and Emily, and younger brother Patrick.

William John 'Liam' Neeson OBE (born June 7, 1952) is an Oscar-nominated Irish actor.[1] He is known for his role as Oskar Schindler in the 1993 film Schindler's List, and has since appeared in several popular film series, including the Star Wars prequel trilogy, The Chronicles of Narnia and Batman Begins. He has also continued to play real-life characters, including Michael Collins and Alfred Kinsey.

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COUNTIES

Although all the counties in Northern Ireland are in Ulster, the two are not the same. Ulster also includes three counties in the Republic of Ireland: Donegal, Cavan and Monaghan which are not part of the United Kingdom.

County County town
County Antrim Antrim
County Armagh Armagh
County Down Downpatrick
County Fermanagh Enniskillen
County Londonderry Derry
County Tyrone

County Antrim
Located on the north east of Northern Ireland. It is one of two counties that does not border the Republic. Its county town is Antrim. It has an estimated population of 566,000 people, and a great attraction of the county is the Glens of Antrim. Half of the Greater Belfast area is in this county.

County Armagh
County Armagh is located on the south of Northern Ireland. It is the smallest of the six counties, and is known by some as the Orchard County because the land is so fertile for apple-growing.
Its county town is Armagh, and the county has an estimated population of 141,000. South Armagh was the most militarised region in Western Europe due to the history of the Troubles.

County Down
is located on the south east of Northern Ireland. The county town is Downpatrick, and the largest town is Bangor, although half of the Greater Belfast area is located in Down. County Down houses a mountain range, the Mourne Mountains, which are in talks about becoming Northern Ireland's first National Park. They are regarded as one of the greatest place for w2alkers in the land of Ireland. County Down has an estimated population of 454,000 people.

County Fermanagh
is located on the south west of Northern Ireland. It is one of the three counties that border the
Republic. Its county town is Enniskillen. The county has an estimated population of 55,000 people, and a large tourist attraction is the Marble Arch Caves.

County Londonderry
is located on the north west of Northern Ireland. It is also known by many as County Derry.
The county has Northern Ireland's second largest city, also called Londonderry or the City of Derry. The estimated population is 213,000 people.
County Tyrone
is located on the west of Northern Ireland. During The Troubles it saw the worst attack on its county town, Omagh. It is the largest county in Northern Ireland with an estimated population of 166,516 people.

Government

Districts of Northern Ireland
1.Antrim
2. Ards
3. Armagh
4. Ballymena
5. Ballymoney
6. Banbridge
7. Belfast
7. Carrickfergus
8. Castlereagh
9. Coleraine
10. Cookstown
11. Craigavon
12. Derry
13. Down
14. Dungannon and South Tyrone
15. Fermanagh
16. Larne
17. Limavady
18. Lisburn
19.Magherafelt
20. Moyle
21. Newry and Mourne
22. Newtownabbey
23. North Down
24. Omagh
26. Strabane

Unlike the Republic of Ireland, the counties are no longer used for local government purposes.
A major re-organisation of local government in 1973 replaced the six administrative counties and two county boroughs (Belfast and Derry) by twenty-six "single-tier" districts for local government purposes, and these cross the traditional county boundaries. The six administrative counties and two county-boroughs remain in use for some purposes, including Lords Lieutenant and number plates.
The counties formed the former postal counties for Northern Ireland.
As of 2006, major local government reform is expected to reduce the number of districts from
twenty-six to less than ten.