Monday, August 17, 2026: Northern Ireland

In Ireland three bars close every day. The decline started when indoor smoking was banned in 2002. Then they opened the beer gardens. Then there was a crackdown on drunk driving. Then COVID forced people out of the pubs, and they drank at home. The drinking age is 18, but most teens have tasted beer by 14.

Everyone is required to wear school uniforms. There are very few private schools. Students can start school at 4. Primary school has separate schools for girls and boys and lasts 8 years. Then there is a big jump to mixed schools of 500 to 900 students. They are required to take a third language. They take a junior exam at the end of the third year. The fourth year is a transition year. One gains work experience to try it out or take extra courses of interest like podcasts. The 5th and 6th year is a lot of pressure to pass an exam called the Leaving Certificate. Before the test, a student ranks the college that they want to attend. If one fails even one section, he must redo the whole year.

The university is cheap at €3,000 per year MAX, but accommodations are expensive and hard to find.

The results of the Leaving Certificate are announced 2½ weeks before college starts so there is a mad rush to secure housing near whatever school they attend.

Taxes

• Less than €18,000, there is no tax for a single person.
• If a single person makes €18-44,000, the tax is 20%.
• If a single person makes greater than €44,000, the tax is 40%.
• The married thresholds are higher.

A Valued Added Tax (VAT) is already included in the prices of all products and services.

We seamlessly crossed into Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland is new to tourism. There was large unemployment in the past. Businesses did not want to invest in a war zone. No Irish words are on signs in Northern Ireland.

Derry

Derry which means oak was on the map so to speak in 546 AD. There was a religiously significant monastery here until the 12th century. There are 120 round towers on the island. When you see them, there was a monastery at some time in the past.

In 1607 after the Nine Years War, about 90 Gaelic leaders and their followers went to mainland Europe to try to get help to fight back. It was called the Flight of the Earls. Spain wasn’t eager to help because they had just lost 24 vessels off of the Irish coast. Many of the Earls were killed in France.

England sent many of its citizens to the land in the North of Ireland. This is referred to as the Plantation of Ulster. The area had productive farmland and was only about 18 miles from the Scottish mainland.

From 1613-1618, a wall was built and is still intact today. Is it Derry (Irish) or Londonderry (British) or perhaps they just call it Legenderry.

Derry is referred to as the Maiden City, not because there are three girls to every boy, but because the walls of Derry were never breeched.

Ireland’s biggest export is people. The Derry Girls is a comedy set in Derry, Ireland. Our guide was in the same class as the author of the book so she is likely one of the characters.

Roma Downey of Touched by an Angel is the original Derry girl.

Northern Ireland in a Nutshell

Most of us have heard that the Troubles in Northern Ireland was about Protestants against Catholics. That certainly was secondary to Nationalists and Unionists.

• Nationalist – Irish who want to have the entire island be Ireland. The Republic of Ireland is mostly Catholic. A nationalist was treated like a 2nd class citizen in Northern Ireland.
• Unionist – Irish who want to remain part of England. Northern Ireland is mostly Protestant. Unionists had a siege mentality. They wanted to ensure that they were always in power. Laws were passed, but one could only vote if they owned a home. Nationalists didn’t own houses. Also, if one owned four houses, they had four votes.

Our Irish guide leans Nationalist but would not want a thimblefull of blood to be shed over it.

In the past, he didn’t cross into northern Ireland unless he had a good reason. It was dangerous, scary, and intimidating. Parents wanted a phone call. They stopped at a pay phone since there were no cell phones.

There were paramilitary groups. Both sides provoked and committed atrocities. Both had very small numbers. Most people just wanted to live a normal life.

• IRA (Irish Republican Army) – Irish
• UVF (Ulster Volunteer Force) – British/Unionist

Ulster is a province with three counties in the Republic of Ireland and six counties in Northern Ireland.

There are two parallel streets in Belfast.

• Falls Road is where the Irish live.
• Shankill Road is where the British live.

Shadow V was the 29-foot wooden fishing boat belonging to Lord Mountbatten.

On August 27, 1979, a radio-controlled bomb planted by the Provisional IRA detonated on the boat off the coast of Mullaghmore, County Sligo, Ireland, killing Mountbatten and three others.

This was shocking as he was a member of the Royal family.

Many Irish left for the big cities in England. However, the British were suspicious of all Irish.

Nothing But the Same Old Story by Paul Brady was a song about these times written in the early 1980’s.

Ballyshannon has a traditional Irish music festival every year.

The north did not want Home Rule and garnered 100,000 signatures.

During WWII, soldiers wanted to get the war over with so they could go back to implement home rule.

In 1969 Britain sent soldiers to quell the riots. Within several weeks, Operation Banner began when 27,000 soldiers were put on the streets.

• Falls Road curfew by 8pm. Didn’t do the same anywhere else.
• Interment for those arrested and put into prison without trial. Only Nationalists were impacted.
• Couldn’t trust. “Put your weapons down for now,” it was a Tit for Tat war zone.
• Checkpoints on the border. Car bombs and shootings were common and occurred once or twice per week.
• Soldiers walked the streets. Armored tanks patrolled, and helicopters were a constant presence.
• People wanted the violence to stop.
• In January, 1994 U.S. President Bill Clinton gave a 48-hour visa to Sinn Féin leader, Jerry Adams, to attend a peace conference in New York. That led to the IRA declaring a cease fire in September, 1994.
• Clinton sent envoy George Mitchell who was the hero of the negotiations.
• On April 9, 1998 the Good Friday or Belfast Agreement was signed with the following conditions:
  • No border between Ireland and Northern Ireland
  • British soldiers leave
  • Decommission weapons with concrete poured on them
  • If you were in prison and had served two years, released.
  • Their own government in Northern Ireland
• Voted by both sides with both sides giving up something.
• Border poll mechanism is in place for the future to possibly recombine Ireland and Northern Ireland

Sinn Féin is calling for a border poll today. Our guide says that it is too soon. At least another ten years will be smoother. BREXIT made the border issue more difficult.

The date of July 12 is a hotbed for trouble. Many nationalists leave during that time. On July 11, bonfires are started to celebrate the historic Battle of Boyne.

Shared Ireland talks respect both cultures. History is still happening. The future is in the children. Activities are planned where both sides are involved.

Say Nothing is a non-fiction book that explores the Troubles. There is also a well done mini-series based on the book.

One Upon a Time in Northern Island is an 8-part series. Each episode highlights a viewpoint of a resident of Belfast during The Troubles.

Ireland Call is played when it is an all Ireland team in Rugby. A boxer named Barry McGugan would wear a dove, and his dad would sing O Danny Boy at his matches. This was during The Troubles. Both sides would say: ‘Leave the fighting to McGuigan.’

Songs:

• The Town I Love So Well
• Back Home in Derry
• The Mountains of Mourne
• Star of the County Down
• Spancil Hill