Northern Ireland Is the Most Intrguing of Places

Jamie: 13th Apr 2002 - 22:35 GMT

Anti-RUC (police) mural, West Belfast

Jamie: 13th Apr 2002 - 22:39 GMT

jamie: 25th Feb 2005 - 15:40 GMT

it seems like a lifetime ago i wrote this. i vaguely even remember writing it. i think, after all this time, my fear of semi-automatic weaponry has returned; and i think this is a good thing. A stabilised, normalised society is an important factor in determining good mental health, and god knows i can do with all the help i can get on that front.

peace out motherlovers x

Belfast exile: 20th Mar 2005 - 00:37 GMT

Re: Living in 'the province' I was born & brought up in Ulster (U.K) dont see what all the fuss is about, hate it here in the mainland & cant wait to bring myself & my training back to Ulster & the Protestant people (dont worry nothing will go to waste!!!

jamie: 20th Mar 2005 - 00:50 GMT

Re: hate it here in the mainland

What is it you hate so much about living on the mainland?

Imperator: 19th Jun 2005 - 10:22 GMT

I hate this fucking province, too

everywhere it smells like shit

Conor: 14th Aug 2005 - 03:19 GMT

It aint so bad, iraq would be far worse lol. and besides at least there aint as much troubles any more, except 4 a few thug assholes.

Kelsey Grammar: 17th Sep 2005 - 08:27 GMT

at least there aint as much troubles any more oh my god. shoot me now. please!

barry: 23rd Sep 2005 - 05:06 GMT

Jamie it is true what you had to say up top.(You put me thinking back)I never past any remarks in this when I was young.I gess when you grow up with this you don,t now any beter.Hopefully the kids over there get a diffrent out look in life now.I think it has changed a lot over there in the past ten years with exceptions one or two places (balfast ....).I now one thing I wood not like to meet some one on the sub way with a sub-machine gun are any were that mater now.later

Jamie: 16th Nov 2005 - 16:51 GMT

Yeah well it was still true when i left Northern Ireland back in 2002. Things are no more stable there these days but i think the military presence is being scaled down. I'm not sure how much more normalised it is lately.

vannoonan: 5th Jan 2006 - 02:23 GMT

Donegal on the water is quite beautiful. And I met a number of cool people there.

John: 18th Feb 2006 - 09:11 GMT

Dia daoibh

Northern Ireland is just the most extreme part of Ireland/UK that most of you bozos have been able to experience. Go visit Kosovo. Go visit the Middle East. I doubt if any of you have ever been further than Lands End. Tut-tut.

Lest we forget, it was the British Government that created this "un-normalised society" in their policy of Divide and Rule, so many years ago. Whilst we cannot dwell on the past errors of foolish Governments, nor can we blow the shite out of the opposing political characters anymore (or, one another, for that reason!) Ulster-born Irish people like myself can look forward to Irish Unity and complete independence by purely Political means!

Slán go fóill

barry: 18th Feb 2006 - 10:51 GMT

John you are the man.You no what you are talking about.Bozos?

Jamie: 19th Feb 2006 - 14:38 GMT

John i agree with you 100 per cent, an do so as a british person of english origin. And true, Northern Ireland is not the most extreme place on earth, but it's certainly the most extreme and interesting place I've lived so far, and i don't think you could argue with that. Ticofaidh ar la motherfuckers! FTQ

teresa 25/06/2006: 25th Jun 2006 - 12:13 GMT

i came to Australia in 1972 with my family I was only 9 years of age. I have been home twice since then. I would go home tomorrow to live, only I married an Australian and I can not move him from Queensland. I loved Ireland and the people in it. I will never think of myself as an Australian even though ny parents had us naturalized and we are citizens. I am Irish and proud of it.and would not have it any other way.

EvilGentleman: 25th Jun 2006 - 16:08 GMT

Since most of Northern Ireland seems to be broken up into Catholic and Protestant areas, why not just let the Protestant areas remain as British enclaves, while the rest of Northern Ireland merges with the Irish Republic? Or is that an over-simplified idea that does not take into account the complicated realities of Northern Irish politics?

Never mind the radical Catholics who will fight just for the sake of fighting, always the martyrs. Never mind the radical Protestants who believe that the British are the rightful masters of the universe, always the racist overlords. Just fix things as best as you can, compromise in a way that eyeryone gets something, yet the fewest number of people wind up out of place. That is what makes sense to me.

jamie: 30th Jul 2006 - 00:35 GMT

the problem is that compromise, as obvious a solution as it is to you or i, is not an option. if northern ireland were merged back into the republic or ireland there would be an immediate role reversal (as the protestant majority went apeshit) and a return to the kind of insane bloodshed of the 1970s-80s. It seems such a simple problem with a simple solution, i know. But it's not.

dublin girl: 22nd Mar 2008 - 17:30 GMT

hey ive been livin in dublin all my life and was always hearing about the troubles up the north! i went and started a course 2 months ago up in belfast and i have to say its a shithole! any time weve gone out to pubs ect weve been started on by stupid idiots who call us finian bastard and then try and smash a bottle over ur head- even as were walkin dwn streets were been stared down and even spit at! we know there are certain areas there that we shouldnt walk thru and believe me we try our best to stay out of them but weve got lost a couple of times and didnt even feel safe asking for directions!! i mean if u live up there u get used to it and im startin to get used to it myself but dnt know whether this is a good thing r not! so far weve been up there we have seen a lot of attacks and beating ect and its just mad shit! we shud just get this shit sorted- and im thinking along the lines of a 32 county ireland here people,i think when england does finally give us back what was wronfully taken (anyone that doesnt knw the history shud just google ireland)we shud get a big fat apology from the queen and her spawns while there at it!!!!! the things her family done to our people all those years ago are disgraceful!! i have family living in england etc and have nothin against them but when people living on the ireland are willing to stay loyal to england- why dont they all just move over there and leave us in peace!!

descendant of immigrants: 12th May 2009 - 17:56 GMT

If your ancestors were bolder, they would have gotten out of there when they could.

aaron: 17th Jul 2009 - 20:49 GMT

i dont see how loyalism n secterianism got brought up here. this was supposed 2 be about intruiging places so my favourite place by a complete mile has to be the antrim glens they are beautiful.

alec: 23rd Jul 2009 - 10:07 GMT

Just had a holiday in Enniskillen, Connemara and Dublin - all interesting places, but the border and the history and the strong views of some posters above is intriguing and frightening/amusing and difficult to ignore?