Northern+Ireland

**Northern Ireland**
 * [[image:studiesinenglishlanguage/Northern_Ireland.png width="344" height="172" align="left"]]

[|LonelyPlanet] || ||

Northern Ireland is one of the fourth countries of United Kingdom. It is bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean, on the east by the Irish Sea, and on the South by the Celtic Sea. It is situated on the north-east of the second largest island of the British Isles, the isle of Ireland. The languages spoken in Northern Ireland are English and Irish. Northern Ireland has been a conflictive area for many years because of some political troubles caused between nationalists, Catholics, and unionists, Protestants. The problem was that the unionists wanted to remain as part of the United Kingdom, whereas the nationalists wanted to be independent of the British government. This causes a complex identity and citizenship for the Northern Ireland people.
 * 1) ==**INFORMATION ABOUT NORTHERN IRELAND:** ==

Before 1920 Ireland belonged to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1920, the Government of Ireland founded the Irish Free State and allowed six Ulster countries to remain part of the United Kingdom, becoming Northern Ireland. This time, the IRA (the Irish Republican Army) was against the establishment of the Irish Free State. The struggles started at this point of time because the Catholic residents of Ulster wanted a unique, unity in Ireland, but the Protestants wanted to remain as part of England.
 * ===HISTORY ===

In Northern Ireland you can find either low mountains full of cliffs dropping off to the sea or lowlands. You can also find the Giants Causeway, declared World Heritagesite by UNESCO in 1986. It is an area full of basaltcolumns product of an ancient volcanic eruption.There is a story related to this place, the Giants Causeway. It is said that there were two giants, an Irish, Finn, and an Scottish, Bennandoner. They were arguing all the time and they were always throwing stones at each others. Because of the amount of stones that they threw at each others, a stone field appeared on the sea. One day, the Scottish giant decided to pass through the stone field and defeat his opponents. The wife of the Irish giant saw Bennandoner going towards her place and decided to dress her husband like a baby, so when Bennandoner saw this enormous baby he thought that his father had to be even bigger, so he returned to Scotland stepping strongly on the stones sinking them. || The Giant's Causeway ||
 * * ===LANDSCAPE===


 * RELIGION

In Northern Ireland there are two main religions: the Catholic and the Protestant. Each religion has one Cathedral called Saint Patrick in the same city, Armagh.
 * SPORTS

Sports are very popular and important. The most important sports are football or soccer, cricket, golf, rugby and snooker.
 * CUISINE

potatoes and bread. Some of the local specialities are: __Champ:__ food with potatoes mashed with butter, milk and scallions. __Irish Stew:__ a casserole made with meat, potatoes, carrots, and steak. __Steak & Guinness pie__: the meat is cooked first, and then it is added some pastry with beef and topped with pastry again. || Steak & Guinness pie ||
 * Some of the traditional dishes in Norther Ireland are cooked with


 * CELEBRATIONS AND HOLIDAYS

Saint Patrick's Day is the most important celebration in this place. It is characterized because everybody dresses in green, drinks green beer and there are vigorous parades during the day. New Year's Day is celebrated on the 1st of January. The 12th of July people celebrate a parade of the Orange Order to celebrate and commemorate the victory of Prince William over King James the II. This is a Protestant organization and its public parade and celebration creates tension in Belfast, and it often causes violent reactions among Nationalists.