safe for irishman in enniskillen on july 14th???

Rudimentary.

I was in Dublin the day of the "Dublin and Monaghan bombings"
So was my brother. We were very lucky.
Just missed them by minutes.
And the funny thing about it was there was no road blocks
for me on the way home that day.

If you're not going into the city you'll be grand. Watch out for the shneaky blue and red footpaths though

Crooked Jack wrote: »

How in the Hell is this thread still going? I'm genuinely shocked at how ignorant some people are about their own country.
Here, I'm going to an island off the west coast next week. I heard there are aliens there called Grabbers that will eat you but will leave you alone if you're drunk. Is this true?

That's how stupid you sound OP.

No aliens but being drunk helps on the Aran Islands. There's a grain of truth to most things.

I've driven to NI in my ROI Plates - Not a bother!

Stop worrying and enjoy yourself!

Nemeses wrote: »

I've driven to NI in my ROI Plates - Not a bother!

Stop worrying and enjoy yourself!

And often there are more southern reg cars around you than Northern reg cars. I've found this in Ballycastle, Warrenpoint, Castlewellan (for the Fleadh Uladh) and almost every GAA match I've gone to north of the border involving a team from the 26. Dromore in Tyrone in two weeks, for the Fleadh Uladh again, will be packed with southern reg cars. And Derry at the end of August for the Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann will certainly have more southern reg cars (among the 200,000 peope who usually attend) than northern reg ones.

This natural flow of Irish people across Ireland without due regard to this country's partition by the British must really annoy the "It's a separate country!!!!!" wannabe mythmakers.

topper75 wrote: »

It's like anything. People work off what the media tells them if they have no personal experience.... All the pleasure trips I've made around the place have been a joy - because i started from such low expectations. The southern media doesn't cover normal day-to-day life of the north nor highlight its physical beauty.

I agree 100%.

topper75 wrote: »

Another good example is my hometown of Limerick - the media aren't exactly encouraging people to go and enjoy it. Working around Ireland, it has become clear to me that people think it is some kind of cartoon Gotham city. Why? Well if they haven't been there - something has to fill the vacuum for the concept of Limerick in their heads. Enter RTE and the national newspapers.

With absolutely no disrespect to you, Topper, but Limerick is exceptionally awful. I drove past it yesterday on the way back from Kerry and after seeing the way communities such as in Kenmare get together to present their towns, I just felt sad for the place. I have been through it many times now and there are so many things which should no longer be seen in Ireland - boarded-up homes, burnt-out homes, abandoned homes, gangs on the corner of streets. I drove from the centre out by a place called Hyde road (I made a point of looking for the road name) to get onto the M7 and we are talking kilometres of deprivation all around that area. It was shocking. Even Ballymun doesn't look that bad now. It really, really doesn't.

No place in Ireland, except Portadown or Ballymena, has as bad a reputation as Limerick. In my experience of being in those towns, all three places deserve it. It's as if the majority of citizens in Limerick, whom I presume are as decent as in any other place, have given up on improving their area. The politicians, being representatives, seem to reflect this apathy.

Limerick is perhaps lovely if you get the train down and just stay around the historic area and the river - it certainly looks lovely in the tourist brochures. It has a great history, and that could be a major selling point. But get lost in Limerick city and an outsider like me will be shocked with the contrast in that small city with a population the size of Tallaght. It really has been forgotten by the finances of the Irish state and the only people to blame are the Limerick people who continue to elect the same people who have no motivation to change things, even though there is usually a Limerick TD in each cabinet. Limerick will recover its reputation, but it's going to need a lot of local people to start believing in the place again and to start fighting for it.

markomuscle wrote: »

About 60% of people in Enniskillen are Irish Catholics so there will be no problems for you, not everyone is of a different culture up here.

Are you sure, i always thought it was an orange hole. Anytime ive drove through it all i see is red white and blue all over the place

gallag wrote: »

Wtf does this mean?

short for a loyalist place where if your a catholic, its a no-no to live and go to

gallag wrote: »

Wtf does this mean?

This alludes to people such as yourself, gallag - you know, the sort who'd try and contend that the north is as British as Finchley and a "foreign country" from the rest of Ireland. In contrast to this agenda, there's the reality of Irish people just ignoring the British-created border and continuing to go north or south to see GAA matches, attend music festivals, visit family etc as if that imposed border didn't exist.