Northern Ireland !!!

Northern Ireland

Is a part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It is variously described as a country, province or region of the UK, amongst other terms. Northern Ireland shares a border to the south and west with the Republic of Ireland. As of 2011, its population was 1,810,863, constituting about 30% of the island's total population and about 3% of the United Kingdom's population. Since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, Northern Ireland is largely self-governing.

 

Cities and towns by population[102]
Settlement	Population	Metro population
Belfast	276,705	579,726
Derry	83,652	90,663
Lisburn[103]	71,403
Newtownabbey[103]	62,022
Bangor[103]	58,368
Craigavon	57,651
Castlereagh[103]	54,636
Ballymena	28,704
Newtownards	27,795
Newry	27,300

 

 

Culture

 

 

Is an Ulster Protestant celebration held on 12 July each year. It originated during the 18th century in Ulster, a province of Ireland that was heavily colonized by Protestant settlers from Britain. It celebrates the Glorious Revolution (1688) and victory of Dutch Protestant king William of Orange over Catholic King of England James II at the Battle of the Boyne (1690).



 

Queen’s University Belfast, founded in 1845 by Queen Victoria, with a student body of 24,000, is located in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Queen’s has become one of the most respected universities in the UK, and its research tradition has gained it an international reputation. Queen's University is currently ranked in the top 1% of Universities throughout the world. Their faculties of art, science, law, commerce, applied science and technology, agriculture and theology, allow for academic flexibility. Along with academics, Queen’s offers over 150 clubs and societies based in the Students’ Unions catering for almost every type of interest. 

Governance

Since 1998, Northern Ireland has devolved government within the United Kingdom. The UK Government and UK Parliament are responsible for reserved and excepted matters. Reserved matters are a list of policy area (such as civil aviation, units of measurement, and human genetics), which Parliament may devolve to Northern Ireland Assembly at some time in future. Excepted matters (such as international relations, taxation and elections) are never expected to be considered for devolution. On all other matters, the Northern Ireland Executive together with the 108-member Northern Ireland Assembly may legislate and govern for Northern Ireland. Devolution in Northern Ireland is dependent upon participation by members of the Northern Ireland executive in the North/South Ministerial Council, which co-ordinates areas of co-operation (such as agriculture, education and health) between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Additionally, "in recognition of the Irish Government’s special interest in Northern Ireland", the Government of Ireland and Government of the United Kingdom cooperate closely on non-devolved matters through the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference.

Education
Unlike most areas of the United Kingdom, in the last year of primary school many children sit entrance examinations for grammar schools.
Integrated schools, which attempt to ensure a balance in enrolment between pupils of Protestant, Roman Catholic and other faiths (or none) are becoming increasingly popular, although Northern Ireland still has a primarily de facto religiously segregated education system. In the primary school sector, forty schools (8.9% of the total number) are integrated schools and thirty two (7.2% of the total number) are Irish language-medium schools.
The two main universities in Northern Ireland are The Queen's University of Belfast, and the University of Ulster.