Would you move up North?

The Backwards Man

anncoates wrote: »

People always say stuff like this about Belfast.

If you're a student or professional in Dublin, you wouldn't say to your mates, right lads let's go into the most working class area we can find, roll into the most locals pub we can find and stay there all day.

So why would you do that in Belfast?

As for avoiding such areas completely, it's a small city. You easily get a handle on where's where in a matter of weeks.

Oh look, there's a portakabin pub with bricked up windows, an exclusion cage and a scorched steel door, let's go drink in there.

irish_goat

I live in Derry and the ignorance of my friends from Dublin/Maynooth is shocking. They're always shocked when they come to visit and realise it's just a normal part of Ireland.

anncoates

The Backwards Man wrote: »

Oh look, there's a portakabin pub with bricked up windows, an exclusion cage and a scorched steel door, let's go drink in there.

Or they dander into a central, harmless aul fella bar and get a few looks, like you would in most places.

Leave.

Look around.

DID YOU SEE THAT PLACE. FULL OF UVF.

donegaLroad

dxhound2005 wrote: »

It would be best to move to somewhere like Strabane, Belcoo or Jonesborough first to acclimatise to the exotic nature of the place. If it all became too much you could literally just walk across the border back to civilisation.

Later on expeditions into the interior and the East might be in order.

this would also make double dole more practical by cutting out the travel costs.

SHOVELLER

SHOVELLER wrote: »

The amount of so called well travelled Irish who have been around the globe who have never bothered going north is incredible.

Pure ignorance.

Sure what's the point if its the same as down here?

Seriously though I've not been up North yet, just because it hasn't popped up as an option.

No ignorance involved.

KTR1C

You'd never catch me going past the wall !! :eek:

5starpool

Most of the times I've been up there (work visits mostly) have been during the summer, and there is definitely a different atmosphere than you'd see in the rest of the island then. I wouldn't personally want to live there.

Senna

Lived in Belfast once and never again, it might seem fine for visiting and I still visit fairly regularly but there is deep hatred in both communities that hasn't disappeared just because of the peace process and that hatred is still found in the younger generations.

Its not that long ago you had parents stoning kids walking to "that" school through "their" area.

I wouldnt let a child of mine go to a school in the north, the schools are the breeding ground for hatred.

Ranchu

John Doe1 wrote: »

What about the DUP?

I would prefer to have Peter Robinson as leader over that clown Kenny any day.

No fan of Enda but he doesn't have the same propensity for hate as that lot.

KungPao

I'd say it was bit of craic in the 80s and 90s, but it's a bit boring now.

Buona Fortuna

Winter is coming - and everyone will move south.

endacl

I lived in the north for a year and a half. Glasnevin. Was OK. Handy for town. Never saw any flegs.

Tiger Mcilroy

Senna wrote: »

Lived in Belfast once and never again, it might seem fine for visiting and I still visit fairly regularly but there is deep hatred in both communities that hasn't disappeared just because of the peace process and that hatred is still found in the younger generations.

Its not that long ago you had parents stoning kids walking to "that" school through "their" area.

I wouldnt let a child of mine go to a school in the north, the schools are the breeding ground for hatred.

Sure they can get all the ignorance and misinformation they need from you, no need to send them to school up there.

circadian

Senna wrote: »

Lived in Belfast once and never again, it might seem fine for visiting and I still visit fairly regularly but there is deep hatred in both communities that hasn't disappeared just because of the peace process and that hatred is still found in the younger generations.

Its not that long ago you had parents stoning kids walking to "that" school through "their" area.

I wouldnt let a child of mine go to a school in the north, the schools are the breeding ground for hatred.

Aye I'm full of hatred, so am are.

SpaceTime

Tiger Mcilroy wrote: »

Sure they can get all the ignorance and misinformation they need from you, no need to send them to school up there.

I've fairly close experience of it. It's not misinformation at all. There are some horrendous attitudes up there bubbling away just beneath the surface.

I've been asked straight out am I Catholic or Protestant and saying I'm atheist got more than a frosty reception.

I've had my car attacked for having southern plates twice.

I was up there around the time of the Belfast flags protests and got a load of hassle in central Belfast because of my friends' strongly Kerry accent.

My cousin has recent memories of their bus being stoned because of Donegal plates.

The politics up there is absolutely toxic. There's no other way to describe it. how anyone could vote DUP is beyond me!

ShadowHearth

Easily. I was a few times in there and have good few friends. Would love to and maybe will at some point.

As long it was a nice middle class enclave I would have no problem with it but somewhere like Bushmills absolutely not.

Tiger Mcilroy

SpaceTime wrote: »

I've fairly close experience of it. It's not misinformation at all. There are some horrendous attitudes up there bubbling away just beneath the surface.

I've been asked straight out am I Catholic or Protestant and saying I'm atheist got more than a frosty reception.

Oh the horror!

I've had my car attacked for having southern plates twice.

Did they leave a note or could this have been random idiots being idiots (they have these in the south also)

I was up there around the time of the Belfast flags protests and got a load of hassle in central Belfast because of my friends' strongly Kerry accent.

Thats a pretty stupid time to be up in belfast.

My cousin has recent memories of their bus being stoned because of Donegal plates.

Kids enjoy stoning buses/trains in the south aswell its a fairly regular activity of the idiot.

The politics up there is absolutely toxic. There's no other way to describe it. how anyone could vote DUP is beyond me!

Your stories again show that people have preconceptions about a place and every negative experience is attributed to some imaginary "attitude".

MRnotlob606

I'm doing volunteering in Omagh during the summer. Couple of years ago that would of meant something different

blinding

The Backwards Man wrote: »

Never had a moment's bother in Belfast and I've been through it all, Mount Vernon, Tiger's Bay, Twinbrook, Ballymurphy, you name it, I've been there at all hours.

Worst thing that ever happened me was got my back window in the van blew out in Ballyclare. By a stone threw up from a strimmer!

What religion/political view did the strimmer have ?

Trent Houseboat

Tiger Mcilroy wrote: »

Your stories again show that people have preconceptions about a place and every negative experience is attributed to some imaginary "attitude".

Are you suggesting that s/he imagined the harassment, questioning of his religion and vandalism or are you suggesting that s/he is lying?
There is nothing preconceived about this. These things happened or they did not.

Personally I was in Belfast a couple of times and quite liked it.

SpaceTime

Tiger Mcilroy wrote: »

Your stories again show that people have preconceptions about a place and every negative experience is attributed to some imaginary "attitude".

Well, being called a "taig" and having one's car attacked doesn't exactly do wonders for tourism.

People have preconceptions about Northern Ireland due to a combination of personal experiences and the news. The majority of coverage that the world sees of the region is very negative - mostly riots, violence or very strange political issues around sectarianism.

Also the DUP is doing you no favours at all - The commentary that comes out of that party, particularly aimed towards the GLBT community, is just spin chilling and pretty unbelievable in this day and age.

If Northern Ireland's electorate would stand back for a moment and consider how their politicians are seen by the outside world, maybe they might reconsider who they're voting for.
At the end of the day, these are the people who are forming the image of Northern Ireland in the media.

cloud493

I do like Northern Ireland, and would move up there, I spend a fair amount of time up there anyway. But people who say they don't care about religious affiliations anymore or the communities have entirely moved on is wrong, cos they definitely haven't. Its kinda sad to see in a way.

Tiger Mcilroy

Trent Houseboat wrote: »

Are you suggesting that s/he imagined the harassment, questioning of his religion and vandalism or are you suggesting that s/he is lying?
There is nothing preconceived about this. These things happened or they did not.

Personally I was in Belfast a couple of times and quite liked it.

What im questioning is the motives behind the "harrassment", vague stories about cars being vandalised because of the irish reg and buses getting bricks thrown at them because of the donegal plates.

Cars get vandalised and buses get stones chucked at them EVERYWHERE because people are morons. It never ceases to amaze me the irrational fear of crossing the border and peoples belief that lads in belfast etc give a flying f**k about their car reg.

Tiger Mcilroy

SpaceTime wrote: »

Well, being called a "taig" and having one's car attacked doesn't exactly do wonders for tourism.

People have preconceptions about Northern Ireland due to a combination of personal experiences and the news. The majority of coverage that the world sees of the region is very negative - mostly riots, violence or very strange political issues around sectarianism.

Also the DUP is doing you no favours at all - The commentary that comes out of that party, particularly aimed towards the GLBT community, is just spin chilling and pretty unbelievable in this day and age.

Why are the DUP doing ME no favours?..i never voted for them or do i live in the north.

Are you now saying that a person was attacking you car while calling you a "taig" or were these two seperate issues?

RobertKK

No, living in the warmer south east and in a very scenic location, and with a farm here that can't be physically moved.
Also I have great friends and neighbours here, so no, I wouldn't move up North.

The Backwards Man

blinding wrote: »

What religion/political view did the strimmer have ?

Was spinning too fast for me to see the colour of the gut.

The Backwards Man

Tiger Mcilroy wrote: »

What im questioning is the motives behind the "harrassment", vague stories about cars being vandalised because of the irish reg and buses getting bricks thrown at them because of the donegal plates.

Cars get vandalised and buses get stones chucked at them EVERYWHERE because people are morons. It never ceases to amaze me the irrational fear of crossing the border and peoples belief that lads in belfast etc give a flying f**k about their car reg.

TransLink and the NI Fire Service have stopped putting Donegal regs on their vehicles for this very reason

SpaceTime

Tiger Mcilroy wrote: »

Why are the DUP doing ME no favours?..i never voted for them or do i live in the north.

Are you now saying that a person was attacking you car while calling you a "taig" or were these two seperate issues?

Look, I can see you're quite passionately protecting your home place and I fully appreciate that point of view. We all do, but the reality is that's how a lot of people perceive it and that's because of reported facts on the news and because of personal experiences that get reported back.

Aspects of Northern Ireland are perfectly nice and normal, but it doesn't mean that I would ever want to live there because I really don't like the underlying problems and the attitudes.

I would find it extremely difficult to live in a bubble in some nice bit of Belfast and pretend that the DUP didn't exist and that there was no issue with sectarianism. It would really grind me down after a while.

There are many aspects of the Republic that drive me nuts too and put me off living here, particularly the school system which I think is lost in the dark ages and still bound up in religiosity with little option other than Educate Together to escape that.

However, most other things are pretty modern and forward looking and I don't see any sense of a divided society on religious grounds.

All that I'm saying is that, personally, based on my experiences of Northern Ireland and on who I am and my personal values, I would not feel comfortable living in Northern Ireland.

I would be particularly offended by the DUP's continuously negative attitudes to LGBT rights and I think that stands in absolute and stark contrast to what's happening south of the border.

The OP asked how people felt about living up there. That's what I'm answering. People do not have to agree with me, but those are my personal opinions and experiences.

Also, I'm not saying that the DUP does you any favours or that you voted for them, but they're part of the Northern Irish Government and ultimately that has an impact on policy making up there and a very serious one and that would impact me if I lived there, so while they're in power, there is no way I would live there.

That's not a unionist vs nationalist argument either - it's largely about attitudes to secularism and LGBT and general human rights.

I would have major issues living in certain US states for similar reasons.

kneemos

SpaceTime wrote: »

I've fairly close experience of it. It's not misinformation at all. There are some horrendous attitudes up there bubbling away just beneath the surface.

I've been asked straight out am I Catholic or Protestant and saying I'm atheist got more than a frosty reception.

I've had my car attacked for having southern plates twice.

I was up there around the time of the Belfast flags protests and got a load of hassle in central Belfast because of my friends' strongly Kerry accent.

My cousin has recent memories of their bus being stoned because of Donegal plates.

The politics up there is absolutely toxic. There's no other way to describe it. how anyone could vote DUP is beyond me!

We'd stone NI cars as well, except they're moving too fast.

awec

"OMG one of the nordys just glanced at me, I feel so on edge!"

Thread contains a lot of ignorance.

Tiger Mcilroy

SpaceTime wrote: »

Look, I can see you're quite passionately protecting your home place and I fully appreciate that point of view. We all do, but the reality is that's how a lot of people perceive it and that's because of reported facts on the news and because of personal experiences that get reported back.

Aspects of Northern Ireland are perfectly nice and normal, but it doesn't mean that I would ever want to live there because I really don't like the underlying problems and the attitudes.

I would find it extremely difficult to live in a bubble in some nice bit of Belfast and pretend that the DUP didn't exist and that there was no issue with sectarianism. It would really grind me down after a while.

There are many aspects of the Republic that drive me nuts too and put me off living here, particularly the school system which I think is lost in the dark ages and still bound up in religiosity with little option other than Educate Together to escape that.

However, most other things are pretty modern and forward looking and I don't see any sense of a divided society on religious grounds.

All that I'm saying is that, personally, based on my experiences of Northern Ireland and on who I am and my personal values, I would not feel comfortable living in Northern Ireland.

The OP asked how people felt about living up there. That's what I'm answering. People do not have to agree with me, but those are my personal opinions and experiences.

Fair enough, i just find it interesting when people talk about the "atmosphere" and have preconceptions that cloud their experiences while talking about politics/school systems they dont have the first idea about.

awec

SpaceTime wrote: »

I've fairly close experience of it. It's not misinformation at all. There are some horrendous attitudes up there bubbling away just beneath the surface.

I've been asked straight out am I Catholic or Protestant and saying I'm atheist got more than a frosty reception.

I've had my car attacked for having southern plates twice.

I was up there around the time of the Belfast flags protests and got a load of hassle in central Belfast because of my friends' strongly Kerry accent.

My cousin has recent memories of their bus being stoned because of Donegal plates.

The politics up there is absolutely toxic. There's no other way to describe it. how anyone could vote DUP is beyond me!

I don't believe you.

awec

Tiger Mcilroy wrote: »

Fair enough, i just find it interesting when people talk about the "atmosphere" and have preconceptions that cloud their experiences while talking about politics/school systems they dont have the first idea about.

You have to take a lot of it with a pinch of salt.

People will say they have recurring problems going up to NI, yet thousands upon thousands go without hassle all the time.

You have to wonder what it is about these people that claim to have constant issues. Getting grief once is bad luck, getting grief all the time goes beyond bad luck.

pablomakaveli

J Cheever Loophole wrote: »

I'll mention that to the two Cork lads who play in our seven-a-side soccer on a Thursday night.

There's also a Dundalk lad who plays - but sure that's North anyway!!

Whats my being from Cork got to do with it? I went up there 4 or 5 times and didn't like it. Thats purely down to my experience there.

Tiger Mcilroy

awec wrote: »

You have to take a lot of it with a pinch of salt.

People will say they have recurring problems going up to NI, yet thousands upon thousands go without hassle all the time.

You have to wonder what it is about these people that claim to have constant issues. Getting grief once is bad luck, getting grief all the time goes beyond bad luck.

Oh yeah obviously, its like anywhere if you look for certain things you will find it.

walking about with a sense of impending doom born out of misplaced paranoia is something else entirely. Plus all the northies are definitely staring at the plates on all the cars so they can show the "taigs" whats what.

SpaceTime

awec wrote: »

I don't believe you.

Fair enough, but I do not post lies online and I have absolutely no agenda other than that someone asked for a view on opting to live in Northern Ireland.

Sadly, because I do think NI has a lot of great places and people, I think a minority of sectarian thugs and the political leadership does the place absolutely no favours at all.

It's a constant stream of bad PR for the region and actually it has a direct impact on the Republic too as we tend to get assumed to be one and the same place by a lot of people who don't know the nuances of Ireland.

I was asked in France "how do you live with all the bombs?" ... (In Cork never mind in Belfast...)

blinding

We will send the LGBT community up there first.

That will confuse them and lead to spontaneous combustion from the most extreme nutters.

The LGBT community will civilise them and then it will safe for the rest of us to venture North:D

Crooked Jack

Jameson Disgusting Sash wrote: »

Spent a couple of days in Belfast Last year for work, didn't like it at all. Felt on edge all the time and always looking over my shoulder and that was with a large group of people (30+). Wouldn't really like to visit again never mind live there.

That sounds more like you were the problem than Belfast

thee glitz

Did you know...
that 5 of the counties in the north are in the top 11 in Ireland in terms of population?

4 are in the top 7 going by population density. It can't be all that bad.

I do go to Enniskillen every so often to pick up a few bargains, grand place.
There's something in the air up north - it feels like anything is liable to
happen at any time, a bit edgy like Glasgow.

It certainly has the scenery, some funny characters up there and stories about gay cakes etc.

I'd move up there for a while for a job i really wanted.

Fermanagh should probably be in the republic.

SpaceTime

blinding wrote: »

We will send the LGBT community up there first.

That will confuse them and lead to spontaneous combustion from the most extreme nutters.

The LGBT community will civilise them and then it will safe for the rest of us to venture North:D

To be fair, Sinn Fein and several other parties up there are very pro LGBT rights. It's just the fact that the DUP and a few hangers on hold so much power and are so anti-gay it's pretty sad.

I'm by no means saying the whole of NI has an issue with the gay community. It's just that one of the major components of their Government definitely has.

I would just find it more than a little stressful to know that those deeply negative attitudes existed in the corridors of power.

listermint

Are the wages not alot less than Dublin for comparible jobs for example.
Whatever about the subtle cheaper cost of living. Wage reduction....

Based on that alone, no.

awec

listermint wrote: »

Are the wages not alot less than Dublin for comparible jobs for example.
Whatever about the subtle cheaper cost of living. Wage reduction....

Based on that alone, no.

Cost of living is a lot lower. It's not subtle.

frostyjacks

blinding wrote: »

We will send the LGBT community up there first.

That will confuse them and lead to spontaneous combustion from the most extreme nutters.

The LGBT community will civilise them and then it will safe for the rest of us to venture North:D

I reckon the support amongst the general public for gay marriage wouldn't be far off the 60/40 split in the south. It's just that the DUP have a hardcore support base that oppose anything other than their world view.

alchemist33

Lived for a year in Belfast. Great place: family friendly, lots of parks. Brother lives there now and had an excellent time visiting last weekend.

awec

frostyjacks wrote: »

I reckon the support amongst the general public for gay marriage wouldn't be far off the 60/40 split in the south. It's just that the DUP have a hardcore support base that oppose anything other than their world view.

Any referendum on the issue would pass. The DUP know this which is why they will keep blocking the issue.

jobbridge4life

Not a chance. 1. Its an entirely artificial economy. 2. The sectarianism. 3. The savagely backward element of the population and political class. I just couldn't live somewhere the Minister for Health was a young earth creationist. I mean FFS.

DubDani

We moved to the North from Dublin some 8 years ago, and haven't regretted it.

Haven't encountered any religious divide in all those years. We have never felt unsafe, be it in Newry, Craigavon or Belast. I also have never been asked if I am Catholic or Protestant.

We live in a very middle class Area, and People seriously don't care for religious divide much anymore, at least here. There are several local families who haven't even bothered to christen their kids anymore (from both sides of the fence). Daughter goes to a Catholic School, but has so far not been force fed any religious "rubbish".

Cienciano

the evasion_kid wrote: »

No,I can literally feel the atmosphere changing when I drive across the border

You know that's all in your head, right?

LDN_Irish

I stayed in Belfast for a weekend a couple of years ago. Stayed in the Hilton for 100 pound vs 200 euro for the Hilton in Dublin, this was before the Euro went so low too. My mrs is black and I have an Irish name so I was on the lookout for any aggro or UVF/C18 types to attack us. Imagine my surprise when we just had a really good time with friendly people.

Did the Taxi tour and saw the loyalists in their natural habitat. Walking around in tracksuits and carrying shopping bags and all. Frightening. The taigs were at that crack as well on the Falls. Mad bastards.