Is Northern Ireland a part of the United Kingdom? I mean, the country is called United Kingdom and Northern Ireland.

barker111

Yes, Northern ireland is part of the UK. I think the country is called Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Jun 08 05, 10:18 AM

author

What I really meant to ask: Is Northern Ireland a part of Great Britain? The country is called United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Jun 08 05, 10:42 AM

lanfranco

"Great Britain" refers to England, Scotland, and Wales. Northern Ireland is one of the United Kingdom's constituent parts, but it shares an island with the Republic of Ireland, an independent country. To understand how this situation came about, see this site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Ireland Jun 08 05, 12:10 PM

Flynn_17

We are the UK. The UK is made up of Great Britain and Northern Island. It seems to be the Americans who have this thing about calling us 'Britain'. Most people here call it the UK. Jun 08 05, 4:56 PM

Baloo55th

OK, back to basics. There are two Britains. Little Britain is more usually called Brittany and it's attached to France and peopled by a mix of French and refugees from Cornwall from when the Angles, Saxons and whatever arrived. Great Britain is the big island containing England, Wales, Scotland, Cornwall (and the Forest of Dean whose inhabitants don't reckon it's in England or Wales). The United Kingdom of Great Britain started off as England and Scotland. Wales didn't count, as it was reckoned politically to be part of England, as were Cornwall and the Forest of Dean. Then Ireland was added - the whole of Ireland. So we had the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Then the southern part of Ireland became a Dominion with its own government, and later a republic outside the Commonwealth. So the United Kingdom was now Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Within the UK, Scotland always had its own laws even though the parliament was merged with that of England, and Wales and Scotland have their own regional governments now. Northern Ireland has had one, and will again when they get things sorted. Cornwall is still trying (a lot of people there regard England as foreign parts). Jun 09 05, 6:58 AM

elchasai

yes Northern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom, meaning that laws passed in parliament can and do affect Northern Ireland, the queen is the official sovereign of Northern Ireland, but dut to the anglo-irish agreements dating back to 1985 and strenghtened following the 1998 deal gives the Republic of Ireland significant say and power in the dealings and governance of Northern Ireland and of course with devolution and the re-convening of the parliament at Stormont 2 months ago Northern Ireland is responsible for itself more so than ever before Jul 27 07, 7:55 PM