"Northern Ireland" United Kingdom Travelogue by Ruediger

Northern Ireland, or Ulster as it is widely know, is not bigger than the country of Yorkshire in England. Yet it has the centre of international interest for a number of years. If it was not for events in its recent history, little might have been heard about this part of the United Kingdom and its one and a half million people.

The Northern Irish may be divided in politics, but there is much that they share. Few people, for example, are more proud of their homeland - and with good reason. They are proud of its natural beauty - its mountains, its beaches, its lakes, and its natural scenery. Over the years people from Northern Ireland have become famous in many fields - in the art, sports, science, business and industry. They are also proud that Ulster people have paid their part in the development of other nations, such as the USA. Some have reached the top in politics, and a number of presidents of the United States have been of Ulster origin.

Because of the violence of recent years a picture has been formed of a country in chaos- a picture which deeply worries the people of Northern Ireland, because they know it is not completely correct.

In spite of the activities of a small number of terrorists there is a growing degree of normality about life in Northern Ireland. "Where is all the trouble we've heard about?" visitors often ask. Well, there is trouble in a few areas on a few occasions, but it is not much as many people abroad believe. Children go to school. People go shopping. You can go travel all over the country in an atmosphere of peace and calm. Factories, many of them owned by companies in America or other European countries, produce goods for the rest of the United Kingdom - less than 20 miles away- and for export world-wide.

One Island - two counties?

The province of Northern Ireland is quite small, only 85 miles long and 100 miles wide. It consists of 6 of the 32 countries of Ireland. On one side is the sea which divides the island into two countries. The people in Northern Ireland are divided, too, but not by the colour of their skin or race. They are divided by their religious ideas.

In the last few years a growing number of people have moved away from Belfast. Many of them have to travel into the city quite often. Sometimes their cars are stopped and policemen look for dangerous-looking objects. For people who drive into Belfast to work it means that they might be late at the office or children late for school.<BR>
Nobody, of course, wants to sit in a traffic jam while policemen who are armed look through their cars. Some drivers think that their cars must be well-known to the police by now because they use the same road every day. This is why some of them get angry and start to complain about the security checks carried out by the police. But as a result, they might have to wait even longer.