Northern Ireland - how do you perceive it?

Why do you think?

With parents from ROI it was considered somewhere we wouldn’t be going to visit when I was a dc. However a cousin went to Belfast uni in the 90s & we did a day trip with family. I was quite shocked by the murals, gates, walls etc but maybe this was because I was raised in London & obviously the press was pretty one sided.
Went back about 5/6 yrs ago & stayed in Belfast, saw some GOT landmarks, Giants Causeway, Titanic exhibition & really enjoyed it. Weather wasn’t great though 😆

As an English born child of Irish parents and Caholic, now married to an Armagh man - Prod - and living along the Causeway - I LOVE IT HERE

My earliest memories - during the Troubles, were being at check points, turfed out of the car, the car turned over and soldiers with guns - scary shite for pre teens. Also my Dad being kept for 24hrs "questioning" back in the day

Being of "mixed marriage" I was concerned but in 20 years Ive not had a bother. Sure the English are hated but thats as a whole, not on an individual case. Ive been totally welcomed and this is my home and I wouldn't live anywhere else now

Theres nowhere more beautiful then here, even in the rain, theres no where as friendly ( so I have found ) and still here is community , we look out for and after our neighbours

The NI I live in has moved so far in 20/25 years. Sure its like England of the 70s in some respects but as a whole the people of NI have had to face and learn to live with HUGE change and we are doing it

Why did you find Israeli flags disgusting?

I'm from here, I'm biased maybe but I love it and would never live anywhere else. I went to uni in Liverpool but I could never have settled there. This has always felt like home.

My sister and I are both in what would be called 'mixed marriages' we were lucky to grow up in a mixed area and went to one of the first integrated schools in NI.

It's come a long way since the good Friday agreement. I'm proud to call it home. I would like to see a united Ireland in my lifetime but I don't think we're quite ready for it yet

I was there in the summer and found the amount of Union jacks as we drive through some villages quite odd, I'd not expected that and found it quite odd and unwelcoming

Why did you find it odd and not expect it? Are you completely unfamiliar with Northern Irish history?

Live in Republic, have been many times to visit. Don't love Belfast (just seems a bit drab and grey and the weird peace walls freak me out a bit and the murals are not very beautiful, even if they are kind of interesting) but I really liked Derry, (and our excellent tourguide was the child of a 'mixed' marriage) The countryside and coast is beautiful. The Giants Causeway is the place I tell visitors they HAVE to go and see. There is nowhere else quite like it in the world. Like a giant childs educational toy but in nature.

Its always a weird disconnect crossing the border and everything suddenly being in £.

Because of the whole EU thing its also are you in Europe or not? People born there can still get an EU passport and there are no actual border guards so people can freely cross from the ROI. Its kind of EU no mans land.

Never really felt unsafe, although I did wonder if we would get any hassle in certain areas of NI with our ROI reg car. But we are so obviously and visibly not ethnically Irish (and with UK mainland accents) people probably don't know what to think.

I went on business some years ago - more than 2 but less than 10, cant remember exactly. Found it ok, not super friendly but ok. However, I was travelling around a large bank doing a specific training - I found the groups in NI the most hard nosed unempathic bunch of all. And a week after I got home, there was some kind of violent demonstration outside the government offices I had walked past one day when I was there. My step dad is from ROI and it is a very different attitude when I visit there.

I've visited Belfast and surrounding areas and absolutely loved it. Felt very safe in the city centre and the people were very welcoming.

I remember my dad having to travel to the outskirts of Belfast regularly with work in the 80's though and my mum was always very tense whilst he was away, although he always said it was a lovely place and wished he'd had the chance to go back and visit in later life.

I will say, this is a lovely thread to read. I'm so glad to see so many nice views on N.I, it's come such a long way in the last 25 years

I'll add my husband is from here too, I'm from England x

I disagree, I live in Belfast and in a mixed marriage. We live in the area my husband grew up in and I still tell people I grew up in a different town that would be more less contentious, I come from a very nationalist town so a bit outing that I was raised catholic. It would be lovely to think that people don't care but many do unfortunately, but it's definitely way more accepted now a days that when we first got together (in late 30s for context). I think N.I in general is still way more segregated than you perceive although lines are more blurred and people less prickly, this may be due to where you came from and now live. The country has come so far, Belfast has turned into such a lovely place than when I first moved here for university, but there is still a long long way to go.

I moved here 8 years ago. I found everyone very welcoming and friendly. My kids are loving school too. Lucky to live in a nice community.

I love it. Although when a relative of dh's told us we should move (when I was looking at a fabulous house in Enniskillen online because we'd just driven past the For Sale sign), it was immediate no. But that's for complicated reasons I think. Dh's grandfather was killed in the Troubles and his death left a long shadow.

I've always felt perfectly safe though. Dc1 is Titanic obsessed and both my dc love Fermanagh (which is where my mil is from). Must admit I do too. Always had a thing for water and islands. Could spend forever messing about on a boat.

Highlights of our last trip would be Giant hunting in the Sperrins, spending a very wet day on Lough Erne with extended family and eating poutine of all things next to the Big Fish.

That’s so lovely to hear! What are your plans? Always happy to give recommendations 😁

We've booked a couple of restaurants and are also meeting friends one of the days so will take that day as it comes. Also want to do the Titanic museum on this trip. I really enjoyed waking around and exploring so more of that too!

I'm in Ireland and have never really had cause to go to NI until recently. I've had a few flying visits to the general Derry area in the last year. My flying visit impression was that it seemed poor. The roads were dreadful and it seemed quite rundown. From my first impressions it wouldn't be somewhere I would rush back to to spend my free time.

Having said that dh and I are planning to visit Belfast soon and I have high hopes for that.

Lived there for a couple of years, truly stunning countryside and coastline and generally very friendly kind people, just a few areas of Belfast that were a bit edgier than I was comfortable with. Also my employer was mad which coloured my experience somewhat 😂

Went once, it rained a lot ...I have the same answer to Cornwall...it rained a lot.

Yes more of our friends are in mixed marriages than not.