My homeland.

We get a lot of bad press still about the "troubles" and as someone who has lived here all my life will say, its all media hype. Northern Ireland is a wonderful place to live or visit and hopefully my review will get you over here.

The People. We are all welcoming and always up for a bit of "banter or craic" with you. We are friendly and warm always willing to help, just look at the support for our sports teams, Ireland rugby and Northern Ireland soccer, everyone is happy when they know that we are coming. Whatever background we are from here we always want to promote our country and will do whatever it is to promote it.

The Places to visit.

The Mourne Mountains. A sprawling mountain range here in my very own County Down, beautiful is the best way to describe them. A great day can be had here or even a few days camping, long walks, lakes and views. Spelga Damn are all wonderful features of these beautiful mountains that dominate the Newry and Mourne skyline. The quaint towns and villages that you encounter on your way to this mountain range make it even better, from Warrenpoint to Mayobridge, Castlewellan to Kilkeel you'll find different cultures, backgrounds and people.

Royal County Down. If your into golf or even if your not this is a must visit. It is permanently in the Worlds top 100 golf courses and regularly appears as Europe's number one golf club. With over 7000 yards of beautiful Irish landscape and greenery with the already describe impressive Mourne's in the distance you will think on a sunny day that you are in a far away land. Golf isint everyone's cup of tea but this is a place we are proud of and even the non golfer will see why we are so proud once they visit here.

Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge. Strangely this bridge has become a massive tourist attraction for Northern Ireland, opened only 6 months of the year and this 20 meter rickety bridge takes in 400,000 tourists per year, The big attraction is that this rickety rope bridge is 30 meters up and joined by two cliff edges and you can walk over the vast ocean spraying onto the rocks below, I say it's a strange one, well that's because even I never understood it until I went. You take your self away from everything here and just drift to a place of tranquillity. On clear days you can get stunning views of Rathlin Island, Scotland from here.

Armagh City. The historical capital of Ireland. With the two wonderful St Patrick's cathedrals a historian or tourist would find a day pass here very easily, both buildings that are beautifully built and must visit places regardless of your beliefs. This is the least populated City on the island of Ireland with only 14,500 residents, but for what it lacks in people it makes up for in charm with the cricket pavilion on the mall to the old churches littered trough the cobbled streets Armagh is a city of charm and splendour.

Belfast City. Our capital city and a place too often in the news for the wrong reasons, the good points are never mentioned. You can visit the Titanic quarter which incorporates the jaw dropping Harland and Wolf cranes at the shipyard that helped build the worlds most famous liner, The Titanic. City Hall, a wonderful building that houses the Belfast City Council officers and Lord Mayor, but has also witnessed some fine moments, Bill Clinton spoke from here at Christmas whilst he was President on a night that many people believe was the beginning of the end of the modern day troubles. Also at City Hall we have our own version of the "London Eye" although currently a temporary feature plans are afoot to make it permanent. Stormont, which houses our local Parliament, the wonderful Stormont castle which is one of the most impressive if not the most impressive Houses of Parliament in the World. You also have here the beautiful Stormont Gardens, a regular haunt for locals and tourists alike. A bus trip round the City to see the wonderful murals depicting our history and traditions can be got in the city centre.

Derry City. The beautiful walled City of Derry or is it Londonderry or as locals call it, The Maiden City. Ringed by walls that have stood for centuries tourist daily walk round this unique city taking in the wonderful views on offer. The river Foyle runs right through the centre of Derry splitting it in two, connected only by the wonderful Foyle bridges. Visit the historical Free Derry Corner and the Free Derry museum and learn the history behind Bloody Sunday or the Apprentice Boys Memorial Hall and learn about the Siege of Derry. Derry is a City steeped in generations of history.

The Giants Causeway. Our most famous and world renowned Causeway, Stepping stones fading out into the North Atlantic, with very few collections of stones like this the world over we are very proud of them. Scientists will have what the perceive as facts on the amalgamation of this area of natural beauty but legend has it that Finn McCool, a legendary Irish warrior, built these in an attempt to get to Scotland to fight an enemy. Plans are in motion for a new state of the art visitor centre to be built in the very near future to make your time there all that better. If you visit our wonderful shores and do not come to the Causeway you will have missed out.

Beaches. We have many blue flag rated beached around Northern Ireland such as
Cranfield Bay
Magilligan (Benone)
Magilligan (Downhill)
Murlough - Co Down
Portrush (Mill) West
Portrush (Whiterocks)
Portstewart
these are all situated at different points around Northern Ireland but the unique thing is that you are never more than a couple of hours at the very most away from a wonderful beach.

Sports and Events. We have them from our local soccer, The Irish League, the Ulster Gaelic Championship, Ulster Rugby and Irish Rugby and our most famous North West 200 biking event there is something new or different for every visitor.

Getting Here. Fly to either Belfast City or Belfast International or Derry City airport. There are boat terminals situated in Belfast, Larne and Warrenpoint and it is relatively cheap to get here and to stay here.

Come join us here and have a pint of Guinness or Harp in one of our wonderful pubs, enjoy a good Ulster Fry to kick start your day, tell your friends and come back.

This is a wonderful place and you wont be disappointed.