Northern Ireland - how do you perceive it?

[TheBelleOfBelfastCity]

Genuinely just curious. I was born and raised in NI, opinions on MN seem to vary wildly from no go zone to friendly and welcoming. Trying to got a sense of what the most common thoughts are.

Have you visited? Maybe even thought about doing so? What was your opinion?

I think it is Debenhams that I remember - it used to be on the right as you went in (iirc). Not that I actually shopped in there at the time but the whole centre was a lot more "sparkly" back then.

Obviously Debenhams has gone, anyway but yes, demise of city centres generally, I suppose.

I'm from roi and went there with my English husband a few years back. We visited Belfast and booked our air bnb in a clearly protestant area judging by all the poppy murals 🙈 we had a great weekend though and really enjoyed ourselves, loved the black taxi tour. I found it a bit surreal though to see the armoured police cars and to see a dunnes stores in the middle of more English shops 🤣 I'd love to go back though and do more

I live in Dublin and whilst it is a nice place to live with the coast and the countryside it is not somewhere I would recommend to tourists for more than a day or so. Especially UK tourists as it is similar to UK cities but more expensive for them because wages are higher here. Some parts of the inner city have become quite rough since covid. There are far nicer and more interesting places to visit in Ireland.
You would not find any sectarianism in Dublin though. It's very different to Belfast in that way and is a very liberal city now. The biggest issue in Dublin recently is immigration.

I've been twice, once to Belfast and the other time to the coast, giant's causeway etc. it's a really beautiful part of the world and would love to go back with the DC one day.
The time I went to Belfast it was around 2007 so not that long after the troubles, and I'm old enough to remember the bombs in 80s/90s, so it was a bit scary tbh - seeing the murals and barbed wire fences still there. I did like Belfast as a city though.
The second trip didn't feel scary at all and I wouldn't be worried about going there now.

LOVE Dunnes Stores! Both the excellent grocery shopping & the bargainous Doonays Boutique.

Dunnes is great but I miss asda 🤣 a place where asda and dunnes exist sounds pretty good to me

Asda & Dunnes happily coexist in Belfast.

Are you in ROI where there's no Asda, or in England where there's no Dunnes?

It s not really taught in uk curriculum a bit brushed over and mainly one sided

As an Irish person I have also been shocked by the flags in NI. I knew they existed but I think seeing them in reality and seeing the extent of them felt very intimidating.
I think some English people don't know a lot about Ireland and NI. It's not something they really learn at school so it would have to be something they research themselves. It doesn't help that Irish stereotypes have been reinforced by English media.

Asda & Dunnes happily coexist in Belfast.

But we're deprived of the joys of Waitrose and Aldi. And Morrisons, I think.

I swear the lack of Waitrose was a primary consideration for DH when we were discussing moving home. He still goes and ritually mourns in the fruit and veg aisle of any Waitrose every time he’s back in England for work.

Yeah I see people on here recommending Aldi, Morrisons etc. & I think we're lucky to have the big 4 or 5 that we do. I remember as a teen thinking Tesco seemed exotic because it was newly arrived from That England.

Does NI have any of those fancy Dunnes stores? They are better than Waitrose I think.

Not like the Dunnes foodhall in Dublin but we do have the nice clothes and homeware shops in Forestside and the Abbey Centre.

I've only been once. My niece went to University in Belfast and got a job in the city afterwards. We visited her for a couple of days in about 2005 or 6. Having grown up in the 70s my only prior knowledge of Belfast was from tv news reports of bombings and troops in the streets etc. Obviously I knew that it wouldn't still be like that but I wasn't exactly sure what to expect and was a bit surprised by how elegant the city centre is and how quickly you can be in really lovely countryside. My children were very young at the time and we went to an absolutely brilliant museum that was in the middle of a big park - I can't remember what it was called unfortunately but they loved it. People were friendly to us and we had a nice weekend. We visited the ROI on the same trip and I preferred Belfast to Dublin actually, though the whole holiday was enjoyable.
It was a flying visit and we didn't see that much of NI but my impressions were positive and I'd definitely go again. DH are considering a trip to the Titanic museum next year in fact.

@MrsAvocet
That will have been the Ulster Museum which is in the botanic gardens. Titanic centre is definitely worth a visit. If you liked Belfast back then you'll notice the changes that have taken place since then particularly around cathedral quarter and Victoria square.

DH would probably dispute you to the last drop of his life’s blood over that. Dunnes, at its fanciest, does not approach Waitrose.

I know so many people who have returned to NI post pandemic with a (mostly) English partner. They all love it here but do complain about the rain!

This describes several families in my DC's class. A good few moved back up from Dublin over covid too - those ones have the magic combination of Dublin salaries and NI house prices and a very nice lifestyle indeed.

I'm originally from South Belfast, grew up close to both Ormeau Park and Botanic Gardens. I've been away since 2013 and the more I'm stuck where I am in West Yorkshire the more I want to go back for good. There's no comparison. I was back a couple of weeks ago and it was like I'd never been away, people were glad to see me. I barely get acknowledged here, more glared at because of my accent and neurodivergence. My Sheffield-born OH has definitely been more welcomed over there than I have been here.

Always lovely to get the cobwebs blown off at the North Down coast, and I always make time for a visit to the Ulster Museum which I have loved since I was a child.

However, nowhere is perfect. In recent years I'm shocked at the levels of drug abuse that weren't there before. I saw some people in Belfast city centre who wouldn't have been out of place somewhere like Bradford city centre, completely off their faces early on in the day.

It also wasn't nice hearing someone blasting Loyalist band music out of their phone on the train to Bangor particularly with it having few passengers on, most of whom were women travelling alone.

And when did it become just so hard to get a taxi? I know there was always a bit of pot luck involved especially in the evening but at all times I found it near impossible, seems to be a shortage that hasn't kept up with demand from the increase in tourism, etc. I suppose it made me walk more, not a bad thing (apart from the blisters 😁)

So pluses and minuses for me, but I do think the pluses outweigh the minuses.

OMFG the taxis are ridiculous atm, especially at short notice.

Maybe Waitrose has changed since I lived the UK 10 years ago. I missed it when I moved back to Ireland too. But love the fancy Dunnes, has to be the fancy one though, the basic Dunnes don't cut the mustard.

The drug problem in Belfast is horrendous. So bad. And very little being done about it. There are extreme health inequalities across the city.

No Waitrose in NI???

No but loads of farm shops- you won't get better meat or cakes and buns anywhere in the UK! Our local produce kicks waitrose to the kerb.

@knackeredcat
Taxis have been a big issue following Covid. I think 1/3rd of taxi drivers left the industry. If I'm out in town I always pre book early.