Just to avoid any confusion which may have arisen with American or other visitors to Ireland North or South.<BR>There is no passport control between the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland whether you cross the land border or take a ferry between the U.K Mainland (Otherwise Known as Great Britain)Similarily if you fly between both countries there is no Passport Control. HOWEVER the airline or Ferry Operator may require you to show some form of Picture ID (particularily post September 11th).<BR>Just for Paul's benefit a very quick Geography lesson. Ireland is one of the British Isles. Of Irelands 32 counties (By the way it was the Normans who created these 32 counties) 26 form the Republic of Ireland and 6 form what is usually referred to as Northern Ireland even though the most northely point in Ireland is in County Donegal which is part of the Republic. Northern Ireland is sometimes referred to as the province of Ulster even though the ancient province consisted of 9 counties 3 of which are now in the Republic. The U.K. or to give it its full title United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland consists of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland together with various smaller islands such as the the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands.<BR>AND YES BOTH PARTS OF IRELAND ARE BEAUTIFUL AND WELCOMING FOR VISITORS WHETHER YOU VISIT THE NORTH ANTRIM COAST OR THE CLIFFS OF MOHER. MAKE SURE YOU SEE WHY JOHNNY CASH SANG ABOUT THE 40 SHADES OF GREEN.

Well said Kevin. Ireland is beautiful whether it be the South or the North.<BR><BR>Welcome to all who are planning to visit.<BR>

Very good info, Kevin and very well said, Kate! Kevin, if I'm not mistaken wasn't it England's Oliver Cromwell who was largely responsible for enticing and encouraging Protestant Scots to move to Northern Ireland (and, I think, in some cases anyway, giving them confiscated land), thereby, in large part, setting the stage for the ongoing Catholic/Protestant struggles? <BR><BR>Paul, as Kate said, probably about half of the people in Northern Ireland, as you noted, don't like to be called Irish, yet very likely the other half do. It depends on whether they identify with Great Britain, or the Republic of Ireland.

Capo, the problem that only 6 counties in the North are referred to as Northern Ireland is because if they had included the other 3 counties, which are Donegal, Cavan & Monoghan, well then we would be called Ireland - no Republic or Northern - because the catholics would have outnumbered the protestants. But to have a state for the protestants, England had to leave out the other 3 counties.<BR><BR>Hope this makes sense.

Yes, Irish, that does make sense. Thanks. Creating districts in order to make the voting more to one's liking is what we refer to in the U.S. as "gerrymandering", a word combining the last name of former Massachusetts governor Elbridge Gerry and salamander (since the convoluted district he created looked like one.) <BR><BR>See: http://www.fairvote.org/redistricting/gerrymandering.htm<BR><BR><BR>I also found this website which, I think, has a decent (although brief) overview of Irish history, including the struggles with England. <BR><BR>http://members.tripod.com/~ireland17/

As one of the geographically challenged Americans (and spelling challenged, and math challenged, etc.) I think we call the people of Northern Ireland "Irish" is because we assume all of Irelands people are "Irish." Sort of same reasoning why Canadians are sometimes called "Americans." Both the U.S. and Canada are part of North America and both the Republic and Northern are on the island of Ireland. If I ever meet you, I'll just call you Paul.

Here's a quick solution to the problem of being called "Irish" - LEAVE.<BR><BR>Unfurl your flags, beat on your drums, wear you bowler hats and march that Orange Order parade right back around from whence it came.

Here's a quiz for Paul: is a small person who has not yet learned to talk a baby or a babby? Is he small or wee?Is the child's mother referred to as Mummy or Mammy?<BR><BR>If the person is a wee babby, and his mother is known is Mammy; he's an Irish child, regardless of your orientation regarding the border. If you used those terms in England you would instantly be pegged as Irish.<BR><BR>Ethnically, almost all of the residents of N.I. are Irish; politically the answer depends on personal opinion. As to the citizenship question, here's the answer: "A person born in Northern Ireland after December 1922 with a parent or grandparent born in Ireland prior to 6 December 1922 is automatically an Irish citizen." <BR><BR>My advice for Americans visiting NI? By all means, go, it is a truly beautiful place where the locals trip over themselves to impress American tourists.<BR>Your money is very welcome. Stay out of run-down neighborhoods in larger cities, and don't discuss politics or religion, just like anywhere else you might visit.

aidan , did i ever say that i'm a Orange man??? i'm really sorry to tell you that i'm NOT a Orangeman nor have i ever been !!!!!, my mother is in fact CATHOLIC !!! so is most of my family so before you go jumping to your little jumped up ideas about me, also my mum is also a Unionist not all Catholics in NI are nationalist (wanting a United Ireland ) as far as i can see this board has been the most so anti -British in its postings ,also if there was ever going to be a United Ireland theres been plenty of times for it to happen like the border poll of 1973 when ALL the people of NI voted to stay in the UK . i consider this whole post finished and closed because i have been accused when trying to make a point by know it all types on this board of harking on when in fact it has been them who have been harking on .

Just leaving aside the thorney issue of Paul's definition of Irish (oh ok i can't.. surely anyone from the island of Ireland is Irish? You may choose to be a Unionist but you're still Irish. I know David Trimble is proud to call himself an Irishman).<BR><BR>No what I was actually going to say is that reference Kevin's post I'm not sure the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands are officially parts of the UK. Doubtless they are part of the British Isles but I'm pretty certain they are not full members of the EU for instance and because they have no representation at Westminster (in fact they have their own elected governments) they are not part of the UK much as the Falkland Islands and Gibraltar aren't and neither was Hong Kong. <BR>Just being pedantic!