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▲ 103 r/northernireland+1 crossposts

NI holidaymakers bringing their racism with them

In Portugal, staying at a chilled family type hotel, good mixture of UK, Irish and other Europeans here. Few lads from Belfast arrived the other day. Round the pool, all I can hear is their bloody loud conversations, constant swearing and shite talk about various fights they’ve been in. They’re noticeably standing out with all the noise and cursing, but okay, whatever, ignore and move on.

Yesterday though, 2 of them are at the poolside, drinking from early on, getting worse for wear (family hotel, apart from a few beers, no one is heavily boozing here). One of them starts talking to the other so loudly about Jesus, and Christ is my saviour and he died on the cross so I’ll do the same. Me and my daughter are nearby and watching and cringing with second hand embarrassment, but again, we ignore. It’s a quiet place and his voice/accent is like a bloody chainsaw, cutting through the atmosphere. Yer man gets more blocked, stumbling around, goes to an english woman, a mum with young kids in the pool, who’s lying on her sunbed, “What about u, are u from the UK?” She politely replies and then he goes “What’s your opinion on the Islamic State?”. At that point I sat up and thought, fuck this, I’m gonna say something here. The fella’s a racist prick, he’s bringing his small country mindset abroad to a place where no one gives a flying fuck about the crap we have to deal with back home. He keeps badgering the lady and his mate starts to wrap things up and basically leads him away with their towels etc and they stagger off. I said to the lady “not all of us from NI are like that” and she laughed it off but said he was asking her about Muslims and didn’t know what to say, so I assured her no matter what I’m sure he would disagree with her. Been thinking about it this morning and just waiting to see if they turn up at the pool again later, but I’m on high alert now. Why the hell can’t people just leave their nonsense behind for a couple of days? The irony is, they complain about people coming into “their country” yet they go abroad to foreign places and act like fucking morons with no respect for anyone else.

TLDR: racist twats from NI annoying people just trying to enjoy a relaxing holiday in the sun. No escape from the wankers that bring our place down.

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u/davonovo — 2 hours ago
▲ 81 r/northernireland

Is Emma Little-Pengally the most undeserving current politician in NI?

This lady has went from being a SPAD, to MLA to deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland...without a single vote.

She's now accused of warning a victim that her leader Jeffrey Donaldson is a danger to her. Yet this lady never thought to challenge his behaviour, not expose his behaviour. She continued to support him.

She chose a male predator over a female victim.

She stated multiple times she knew nothing about Jeffery...this has now been revealed as utter lies from the DFM, she knows plenty.

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u/AbeltonSkive — 3 hours ago
▲ 41 r/northernireland+1 crossposts

Tree hunt update Belfast Castle solved (good and bad news) and two giant sequoia “forests” in Northern Ireland

Ok I got to briefly visit Belfast castle and could tell by sight that the “46m” redwood recorded in the Belfast tree survey was a typo it was certainly 36m then. Good news is thought the entrance coast and giant redwoods 38m entries were legit.

I want able to measure as was on tight schedule but can estimate that in 2019 (google street then applying tan method with coords from multiple points, plus reference object extrapolation ) that the entrance redwoods are now 43 and 41m with the giant now being taller than the coast (unusually). The misentered redwood I estimated the same way as 39.3m in 2019 imagery. So all are growing and all likely over 40m tall today. From my visit the entrance giant sequoia may well be 46m tall today. https://www.monumentaltrees.com/en/gbr/northernireland/antrim/38886_cavehillcountrypark/

Now our “giant sequoia forests “ what remote region do these exist you may ask. Well the less known areas of finaghy to hilden Lisburn and holywood to Bangor. The sequoias are up there with most common tree species in these areas and the 3d loader imaging has led to some extremely tall specimens in the hilden to finaghy stretch in particular. This also goes up the castle reach hills towards Drumbo. The reason I’m calling these forests is that they might be the a top3 most common canopy tree species and I am now seeing naturally germinated saplings of the species in these areas, which is something I’ve seen claimed is not possible in the uk as sequoias “need fire” to germinate, well I’ve germinated them at home as an experiment in natural ni conditions so that’s wrong…

The irony here is with their growth potential of 70-100m tall we may have a more impressive skyline in belfasts suburbs than the city itself.

Also the tallest trees in this band were 37m and 36m tall one by rathmore school and the other beside apartments in dunmurry however it had a thin top so are likely taller in reality due to what lidar can pick up… (for reference the mt Stewart redwoods that are 40 m plus show up as only slightly taller in lidar) for the holywood to Bangor band none exceed 32m bar the giants in Bangor castle is

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u/Petaaa — 4 hours ago
▲ 18 r/northernireland

What to do with neighbours?

We are FTB, West & East European, have lived in Belfast for a while and are about to move into our new home. We are in our 30s, chill and calm couple, want to have kids in couple of years and live a peaceful life.

We are about to move into our new home soon and noticed that quite a few flags got put up on neighbouring houses. This is a terraced houses street, so everything is quite close by.

We thought to put in cards into the doors, where we would introduce ourselves, maybe add a bar of chocolate too. Now as we saw the flags we are not sure if that would be a good idea as by our names it would be obvious that we are not local.

Is it better to stay discreet and don’t interact with neighbours at all, only say hi on the street, or should we still share the cards? Should we do it only to direct houses attached to ours or to houses opposite to us too? Honestly not sure what would be best and how to stay safe during anti-immigration sentiment.

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u/akostta — 15 hours ago
▲ 39 r/northernireland

Does anyone travel to London for work?

Hi all,

I’ve recently accepted a new job which will involve travelling from Northern Ireland to London every couple of weeks, usually for a day or two at a time.

I’m just wondering if anyone else does something similar and what your experience has been.

Does the travelling become routine after a while?

Do you normally fly into Heathrow, City, Gatwick, etc.?

How do you find getting into central London from the airport?

Has the travel ever made you regret taking the job, or has it been worth it?

Overall, I’d just be interested to hear any advice or experiences from people who do this regularly.

Thanks!

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u/Aggressive-Air-878 — 20 hours ago
▲ 80 r/northernireland

How much do you spend on groceries a week?

2 adults and every week we are nearing £100. I dont understand how. Everything we buy we use. I went to home bargains today thinking I could get some bits cheaper there, came out with £50 spent. Then went into tescos, that was £65. I actually spent £15 more than usual even by trying to get things for cheaper. Admittedly, the weeks we need washing detergent stuff and toilet roll are always more expensive but is £100 for only 2 adults really the norm?

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u/MidnightStorm_ — 23 hours ago
▲ 6 r/northernireland

Co-ownership

Any mortgage advisor, underwriter or anyone with experience of Co-ownership? Husband currently unemployed for just about 3months but has total debt of less than £3k but getting a job very very soon. While I have a very solid employment with about £59000 (£3300/month) and total debt of £555 which will be cleared by 25th of August and a car finance of £6200 (giving back the car at the end of August with no intention of financing another one).

I do have a Default on my credit report from 4years ago when I was on maternity leave and lost my mom at the same time but no CCJ or IVAs etc at all and an Experian score of 983/Creditfile score of 857. I have maintained excellent credit since then and this default is now settled for almost 4years now. We saw a property and just thought to try our dumb luck since our rental property is getting worse by the day and the landlord isn't doing anything about the mold etc

We are in the process of applying for Co-ownership, we hope to make me the sole mortgage person since I can comfortably pay our actual bills (rent, utilities, groceries etc) as I have always done since he was a stay at home dad for a year when our little one was a baby and I had to go back to work (my job was better paying and childcare cost would have swallowed us both). His personal finances remain his responsibility.

Will this be possible at all? Anyone had a similar situation, how was it handled and what was the outcome? Thank you so much as I look forward to hearing from you all.

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u/Suspicious-Cold-1217 — 16 hours ago
▲ 1.1k r/northernireland+12 crossposts

LEGO - Mr. Bean Rides Again - With enough support it could become a real Lego set. Mr. Bean, Teddy and I would really appreciate your support. If you have a moment the support link is in the comments (thank you).

u/DivingFaces — 1 day ago
▲ 10 r/northernireland

Was Jeffrey Donaldson being blackmailed by the British government?

https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2026/07/06/alex-kane-was-jeffrey-donaldson-blackmailed-by-the-british-government/

Was Jeffrey Donaldson being blackmailed by the British government?

A theory among unionists is that knowledge of Donaldson’s Mr Hyde nature was used to push him down a path that suited Westminster

What we now know for certain about former DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson is that he is a paedophile, presently in prison awaiting what is likely to be a lengthy sentence for the abuse of two very young girls; a drunk, who wandered around Westminster slugging from bottles of wine and who “projectile vomited” over the mayor of Beijing during a visit to China; a sex pest – at least one case was brought to the attention of senior members of the DUP while, on another occasion, and in a drunken state, he sat on the knee of a woman MLA and tried to kiss her; a thoroughgoing hypocrite who, while cloaked in evangelical Christianity, condemned homosexuality, frequented gay saunas, added the purchase of porn films to his parliamentary expenses claim form, and had a number of extramarital affairs (one of which led to his wife bugging his car).

Two questions come to mind. How did this tsunami of depravity, deception, dishonesty and horror manage to remain under the radar for so long, particularly when Donaldson appeared to be both reckless and very public in his behaviour? He had been an MP since 1997 and yet there hadn’t been any red flags about his behaviour.

Fair enough, most of it wasn’t criminal in nature, yet regular drunkenness and hypocrisy is the sort of stuff that tends to be noted and tucked away by party colleagues. A more worrying question, though: is it possible that there were people who were aware of the Mr Hyde side of his nature and who used that knowledge to push him down a path that suited the particular interests of the British government?

Jim Allister, an MP and leader of the Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV), a party that opposes powersharing with Sinn Féin and also the Northern Ireland Protocol, which keeps Northern Ireland partly within the EU, raised the question in his initial statement after Donaldson’s guilty verdict. “However, for unionism, a very chilling and troubling issue arises, namely how far did his troubles give rise to his sell-out on the protocol? To me it is inconceivable that the government was unaware of his proclivities and the idea of such being used as leverage is far from fanciful. Was he on a mission of attempted self-preservation in the hope, no matter how deluded, he could stave off the fate that has now befallen him?”

The PSNI chief constable Jon Boutcher has dismissed the speculation as “wild” and “ridiculous”. He said there was “no surveillance” on Donaldson and there was no “blackmail against him by the government”.

But I can understand why Allister thinks that way. In September 2021, the four main parties of unionism – the DUP, UUP, TUV and PUP – agreed in an anti-protocol pact that they would not “facilitate” the working of the Assembly until the protocol had either been removed altogether or changed to their satisfaction. Five months later the DUP withdrew the first minister from the Executive, triggering the collapse of the institutions.

An election three months later, under the leadership of Donaldson, was catastrophic for the DUP. Its vote fell by 7 per cent and it was eclipsed by Sinn Féin as the largest party, which was now entitled to the post of first minister. The DUP refused to nominate a deputy first minister, leaving the institutions in limbo. For the next 18 months the DUP seemed determined not to budge until the protocol issue was resolved and Donaldson’s speeches, along with DUP policy statements, were viewed by the British government as cemented into position.

Which is why it came as such a shock when Donaldson, in return for guarantees contained in the government’s Safeguarding the Union command paper, published in January 2024, led the campaign to return the DUP to the Assembly and reboot the Executive. Elements within the DUP, along with the TUV and most of loyalism, accused him of betrayal and being just another “rollover unionist”. The paper left the protocol in place, while offering what I described at the time as “very flimsy” promises that the union would be prioritised and protected.

[ How the duplicitous double life of Jeffrey Donaldson threatens the future of unionismOpens in new window ]

At the time, Allister wondered what had changed Donaldson’s mind. Now he thinks he has his answer. Donaldson was blackmailed. I’m not convinced. In March 2023, the British government and the EU agreed the Windsor Framework, which passed through parliament with a majority of 515-29. In essence the Protocol remained much as it was, meaning that NI still remained partly in the EU. The choice then for unionism was to reject it or boycott the Assembly permanently. I wrote that the DUP did not want permanent direct rule rather than devolution and would “find a path back to the Assembly and Executive”. Which is precisely what it did in January 2024.

But what if, despite the denials, Allister’s analysis is the correct one and Donaldson had been monitored by the intelligence services and then blackmailed by the British government? If true, then it is a very uncomfortable truth for unionism generally, for it means that there are no ends to which a British government would not go to get its way and safeguard the Belfast Agreement and the assorted institutions – even if that meant undermining all of political/electoral unionism.

It might also mean that if Donaldson had become an intelligence/government “asset” he would have deployed others, albeit unknown to them, to play a part. He was certainly authorising some close to him (not always in the party) to push a much harder line to other audiences while he was preparing his allies in the DUP to back the Safeguarding the Union paper. Until the last few days there were still people on his side who were insisting that he would not be returning the DUP to Stormont.

We may never know the full truth about Donaldson. But the DUP is likely to be badly damaged in Assembly and council elections due next May. If the TUV – the most obvious beneficiary of a DUP collapse – continues to play the blackmail card it could have a significant impact on the already growing numbers within unionism who have long been unsettled by powersharing, the protocol and a Sinn Féin First Minister.

Allister may have no specific answer to those problems, yet that doesn’t mean that a lot more unionists than expected may now be prepared to reward him for his purist and consistent approach since he resigned from the DUP in 2007.

In that case, the blackmail, if that’s what it was, will have failed. What does the British government do then?

u/vague_intentionally_ — 21 hours ago
▲ 36 r/northernireland

UK weather: Heat-health alerts issued as 10 days of 30C temperatures possible

https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/articles/cly77zjey40o

Temperatures in the United Kingdom could exceed 30C (86F) for up to 10 consecutive days as the third heatwave of the year gets underway.

From the middle of the week, the heat is forecast to intensify with temperatures of up to 34C (93F) for some.

Amber heat-health alerts have been issued by the UK Health Security Agency for the Midlands, eastern and southern England from 09:00 BST on 8 July to 21:00 BST on 12 July.

Meanwhile, yellow heat-health alerts have been issued across northern England for the same period.

Significant impacts are likely across health and social care services due to the high temperatures, including a rise in deaths, particularly among those aged 65 and over or with health conditions.

Temperatures to intensify from midweek

Parts of south-east England met official heatwave conditions as of Monday afternoon, with additional regions likely to meet their local thresholds as the week goes on.

Heat is forecast to build from Wednesday with temperatures across England and east Wales getting into the high 20s and low 30s Celsius.

But, it is in London and south-east England where the temperature may peak at around 34C on Wednesday and Thursday.

What is an official heatwave in the UK?

This heatwave is unlikely to be as extreme as the one in late June when temperatures peaked at a record-breaking 37.7C.

However, some weather forecasting models are suggesting there is a chance that parts of the UK could see temperatures in the mid- to high 30s later in the week.

Heatwave to last longer but nights to bring some relief

After the last heatwave featured a number of nights when temperatures didn't fall below 20C (68F) - also known as a tropical night - this spell of hot weather will be more forgiving.

Nighttime temperatures are not expected to be as high as those experienced in June, though some larger urban areas are likely to remain in the high teens overnight. This is especially likely later in the week.

It is not out of the question that a tropical night may be recorded in a few places.

Although this heatwave will allow for some overnight relief, the length of the hot spell will set it apart from those seen in May and June.

The current forecasts suggests a temperature could exceed 30C somewhere in the UK for up to 10 consecutive days.

During the June heatwave the temperature exceeded 30C somewhere in the UK on seven consecutive days. In the May heatwave, it was six days.

u/Your_Mums_Ex — 24 hours ago
▲ 8 r/northernireland+1 crossposts

Long Shot: Did Anyone Witness a Marriage Proposal at Malin Head on 7 July 2018

Hi everyone,

This is a bit of a long shot, but I’m hoping Reddit might be able to help.

Were you at Malin Head, Donegal, on 7th July 2018, at around 1:30pm?

I proposed to my wife there around that time, after we cycled Mizen Head to Malin head, and I’m wondering if anyone happened to witness it or, by any chance, took any photos in the area at the time.

We don’t have any photos from the actual proposal, so it would mean a lot if anyone happened to capture it in the background or remembers seeing it.

Thanks so much in advance.

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u/Silver-Pitch-4210 — 17 hours ago
▲ 18 r/northernireland

Last day of my 20s

Anybody any advice for the big 30?

ETA: Thoroughly enjoying the advice, thank you. Luckily I don’t drink, and am an avid gym-goer and fitness class taker. I also eat quite well!

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u/snootywiththebooty — 1 day ago