1.
NI Railways
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NI Railways, also known as Northern Ireland Railways and for a brief period Ulster Transport Railways, is the railway operator in Northern Ireland. It has a common Board of Management with the two companies in the group, Ulsterbus and Metro. NIR jointly runs the Enterprise train service between Belfast and Dublin with Iarnród Éireann. There is no link to the system in Great Britain, although proposals have been made, though allowances would have to be made for the different rail gauge in use in Britain. NIR was formed in 1968 when it took over from the Ulster Transport Authority, much of the network closed during the 1950s and 1960s, declining from 900 miles to 206.61 miles at present. NIRs last steam locomotives were withdrawn in 1970, in 1970, NIR re-launched the once-popular Enterprise between Dublin and Belfast with three new NIR Class 101 diesel locomotives built by Hunslet in England and Mark 2B carriages built by BREL. Despite frequent interruptions due to bomb scares, the service has remained a more or less constant feature of the NIR network, as older trains became obsolete in the 1970s, the Class 80 slam-door diesel-electric multiple unit was introduced. BREL built these units between 1974 and 1977 to British Rails Mk 2B design with some trailer cars rebuilt from hauled stock, the power cars are powered by an English Electric 4SRKT engine, nicknamed Thumpers due to their characteristic sound, and have two English Electric 538 traction motors. These entered service on the lines around Belfast, becoming a stalwart on the whole network. They remained in service until 2012, latterly primarily on the Larne-Belfast line, in the early 1980s, NIR purchased one of the prototype LEV Railbuses built to test the railbus concept. This was intended for the Coleraine-Portrush branch, but was due to the capacity constraints of a single car. A plan was mooted to use it on the Lisburn-Antrim line to prevent it from being closed and this proposal failed, again because of the limited capacity. NIR has three EMD class 111 locomotives, 111–113, for freight and passenger use, built in 1980 and 1984, during the eighties it was apparent that additional trains would be needed. BREL built nine 450 Class sets on former Mk 1 underframes between 1985 and 1987, the power cars had an English Electric 4SRKT engine recovered from former 70 Class units and had two English Electric 538 traction motors. The sets were three-car diesel-electric multiple units, based on a more modern British design and they were withdrawn from service in 2012 and replaced by new 4000 class diesel multiple units. In 1994, NIR bought two EMD208 Class locomotives identical to Iarnród Éireanns 201 Class and these haul the cross-border Enterprise dedicated trains of modern carriages. In 2004/2005, NIR received 23 Class 3000 diesel multiple units from CAF of Spain in an £80m order, the final unit,3023, arrived in Belfast Harbour on 18 July 2005. All units had entered service by 24 September 2005 and they operate principally between Bangor, Portadown and Londonderry and Belfast
2.
Coleraine
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Coleraine is a large town and civil parish near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It is 55 miles northwest of Belfast and 30 miles east of Derry and it is part of Causeway Coast and Glens district. Coleraine had a population of 24,630 people in the 2011 Census, disposable income is well above the Northern Ireland average. The North Coast area has the highest property prices in Northern Ireland, golf courses, countryside and leisure facilities and attractions are to be found. It has a town centre, and a marina. Coleraine during the day is a town, however at night the town is relatively quiet, with much of the nightlife in the area located in the nearby seaside towns of Portrush. Coleraine is also home to the one of the largest Polish communities in Northern Ireland, Coleraine is situated at the lowest bridgeable point of the River Bann, where the river is 90 metres wide. The town square is called The Diamond and is the location of the Town Hall, st. Patricks Church of Ireland is situated nearby. The University of Ulster campus was built in the 1960s and has brought a theatrical space to the town in the form of the Riverside Theatre, Coleraine has been designated as a major growth area in the Northern Ireland Development Strategy. Although the population of the town is only 25,000, the town also has the advantage of being near some of the most extraordinary landscape in the whole of Europe. In 2002, Coleraine won the Best Kept Town and Ulster in Bloom awards, in 2003, it was selected to represent Northern Ireland in the prestigious Britain in Bloom competition. It has its own radio station, Q97. 2FM Coleraine has a long history of settlement. The Mesolithic site at Mount Sandel, which dates from approximately 5935 BC is some of the earliest evidence of settlement in Ireland. The Tripartite Life of Saint Patrick records how the town got its name, when Patrick arrived in the neighbourhood, he was received with great honour and hospitality by the local chieftain, Nadslua, who offered him a piece of ground on which to build a church. The spot was next to the river Bann and was overgrown with ferns and this incident led to the area being called Cúil Raithin, which was later anglicised as Colrain, Colerain and Coleraine. It was translated by Colgan into Latin as Secessus Filicis, the town was one of the two urban communities developed by the London Companies in County Londonderry in the Plantation of Ulster at the start of the 17th century. In 1637 the Surveyor General of Customs issued a report compiled from accounts of customs due from each port, of the Ulster ports on the list, Carrickfergus was first, followed by Bangor, Donaghadee, and Strangford. Carlingford and Coleraine each had £244 customs due and had equal ranking, during the War of the Two Kings Coleraine was a centre of Protestant resistance to the rule of James II
3.
Northern Ireland
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Northern Ireland is a constituent unit of the United Kingdom in the north-east of Ireland. It is variously described as a country, province, region, or part of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland shares a border to the south and west with the Republic of Ireland. In 2011, its population was 1,810,863, constituting about 30% of the total population. Northern Ireland was created in 1921, when Ireland was partitioned between Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland by an act of the British parliament, Northern Ireland has historically been the most industrialised region of Ireland. After declining as a result of the political and social turmoil of the Troubles, its economy has grown significantly since the late 1990s. Unemployment in Northern Ireland peaked at 17. 2% in 1986, dropping to 6. 1% for June–August 2014,58. 2% of those unemployed had been unemployed for over a year. Prominent artists and sports persons from Northern Ireland include Van Morrison, Rory McIlroy, Joey Dunlop, Wayne McCullough, some people from Northern Ireland prefer to identify as Irish while others prefer to identify as British. Cultural links between Northern Ireland, the rest of Ireland, and the rest of the UK are complex, in many sports, the island of Ireland fields a single team, a notable exception being association football. Northern Ireland competes separately at the Commonwealth Games, and people from Northern Ireland may compete for either Great Britain or Ireland at the Olympic Games. The region that is now Northern Ireland was the bedrock of the Irish war of resistance against English programmes of colonialism in the late 16th century, the English-controlled Kingdom of Ireland had been declared by the English king Henry VIII in 1542, but Irish resistance made English control fragmentary. Victories by English forces in war and further Protestant victories in the Williamite War in Ireland toward the close of the 17th century solidified Anglican rule in Ireland. In Northern Ireland, the victories of the Siege of Derry and their intention was to materially disadvantage the Catholic community and, to a lesser extent, the Presbyterian community. In the context of open institutional discrimination, the 18th century saw secret, militant societies develop in communities in the region and act on sectarian tensions in violent attacks. Following this, in an attempt to quell sectarianism and force the removal of discriminatory laws, the new state, formed in 1801, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, was governed from a single government and parliament based in London. Between 1717 and 1775 some 250,000 people from Ulster emigrated to the British North American colonies and it is estimated that there are more than 27 million Scotch-Irish Americans now living in the US. By the close of the century, autonomy for Ireland within the United Kingdom, in 1912, after decades of obstruction from the House of Lords, Home Rule became a near-certainty. A clash between the House of Commons and House of Lords over a controversial budget produced the Parliament Act 1911, which enabled the veto of the Lords to be overturned. The House of Lords veto had been the unionists main guarantee that Home Rule would not be enacted, in 1914, they smuggled thousands of rifles and rounds of ammunition from Imperial Germany for use by the Ulster Volunteers, a paramilitary organisation opposed to the implementation of Home Rule
4.
United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
5.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
6.
Translink (Northern Ireland)
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Translink is the brand name of the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company, a public corporation in Northern Ireland which provides the public transport in the region. NI Railways, Ulsterbus and Metro are all part of Translink, Translink provides services all over Northern Ireland and also to Dublin, in a partnership deal with its counterpart in the Republic of Ireland. It also provides bus services in many towns and cities all over Northern Ireland including Bangor, Derry, Ballymena, Omagh, Craigavon. The Metro service operates throughout Belfast, right out to the suburbs, nITHCo was established in 1967 to take over the railway and bus services of the Ulster Transport Authority, namely Northern Ireland Railways and Ulsterbus. In 1996 the Translink organization was created to integrate the services of the Ulster Transport Authority as well as Citybus Limited, Citybus is now known as Metro. Northern Ireland Railways, formerly and briefly called Ulster Transport Railways, is responsible for running the network in Northern Ireland. The Northern Ireland railway network is currently 330.58 km, the main passenger line operates from Portadown to Bangor. Also operated are services to Larne and Portrush, which is a branch off the Belfast-Derry railway line, by 2015 Translink hope to have a service operating from Belfast International Airport to Belfast city centre. Translink are in talks with the airport about reopening the Lisburn-Antrim railway line, the Lisburn-Antrim passes Belfast International Airport and could be used to provide services to it. Ulsterbus is responsible for most of the bus services in Northern Ireland, Ulsterbus is charged with transporting over 65,000 children per day to school. There are also a number of cross channel services to Great Britain, Ulsterbus operate Day Tours to other parts of Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and Scotland mainly shopping and to some tourist attractions. The Translink Metro service operates bus services within the Greater Belfast Area, Metro operates 12 bus corridors in Belfast, plus a number of additional routes. The service began as the Belfast Corporation Transport Department, in 1973, these services were transferred to the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company as Citybus Limited, becoming part of the Translink integrated network in 1995. In 2004, Translink/NITHC announced that Citybus would be completely rebranded & reorganised into 12 QBCs, Citybus was re-branded as Metro on 7 February 2005.2. They also operate 100 single deckers in the fleet,30 - Volvo B7RLE/Wrightbus Eclipse Mk.233 - Scania L94UB/Wrightbus Solar, Metro also have a group of ten exUlsterbus Goldliner coaches for use on private hire. These are Volvo B10M/Plaxton Excaliburs, new in 1999 & painted in a pink livery. Total -275 Ulsterbus Foyle is a division of Translink that operates bus services in Derry, the new service was opened in September 2006 following an update of the citys bus routes and replacing some of the older buses. Ulsterbus Foyle is similar to Metro that operates buses in Belfast and these services were the first to carrying letters within their service number
7.
County Londonderry
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County Londonderry, also known as County Derry, is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland. Adjoining the north-west shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of 2,074 km² and has a population of about 247,132 and it is also one of the thirty-two traditional counties of Ireland, as well as part of the historic province of Ulster. Since 1981, it has one of four counties in Northern Ireland that has a Catholic majority. The county flower is the Purple Saxifrage, the place name Derry is an anglicisation of the old Irish Daire, meaning oak-grove or oak-wood. As with the city, its name is subject to the Derry/Londonderry name dispute, with the form Londonderry generally preferred by unionists, british authorities use the name Londonderry, while Derry is used by the Republic of Ireland. Mountsandel located near Coleraine in County Londonderry is perhaps the oldest recorded settlement within Ireland, at an early period, what became the county of Coleraine was inhabited by the OCahans, who were tributary to the ONeills. This county was named Londonderry, a combination of London and Derry, the Irish Society was made up of the twelve main livery companies of London, which themselves were composed of various guilds. Whilst The Irish Society as a whole was given possession of the city of Londonderry and Coleraine, the county town of County Londonderry, and seat of the Londonderry County Council until its abolition in 1973, was therefore moved to the town of Coleraine. The highest point in the county is the summit of Sawel Mountain on the border with County Tyrone, Sawel is part of the Sperrin Mountains, which dominate the southern part of the county. In the centre of the county are the deciduous forests at Banagher and Ness Wood. These councils were, Derry City Council, Limavady Borough Council, and Magherafelt District Council, most of Coleraine Borough Council, the Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway continued as a private bus company based in the city but operating predominantly in County Donegal until it closed in 2014. Bus services are now provided by Ulsterbus, two major centres of the University of Ulster are in the county, including its headquarters at Coleraine and the Magee Campus in Derry. The Derry teams wear the red and white. There are many teams competing in up to five leagues. The county team has won one All-Ireland Senior Football Championship and five National League titles, hurling is also widely played but is not as popular as football. However, the county team is regarded as one of the top hurling sides in Ulster. The Northern Ireland Milk Cup was established in 1983 and is regarded as one of the most prestigious youth football tournaments in Europe and the world. In rugby union, the county is represented at senior level by Rainey Old Boys Rugby Club, Magherafelt who compete in the Ulster Senior League and All Ireland Division Three
8.
Ulsterbus
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Ulsterbus is a public transport operator in Northern Ireland and operates bus services outside Belfast. It is part of Translink, which also includes Northern Ireland Railways, Metro Belfast, Ulsterbus is responsible for most of the province-wide bus services in Northern Ireland. It operates twenty-two bus stations and 1,100 buses, Ulsterbus is charged with transporting over 65,000 children per day to school. Every July and August, around 250 vehicles are usually de-taxed and this is because not as many are needed for service due to schools finishing for summer holidays. Ulsterbus is now in the process of modernising its fleet for better accessibility for disabled people, on 26 June 2006, Translink announced that the Leyland Leopard, synonymous with Ulsterbus, will be phased out of service. These are being replaced by the Optare Solo bus, amongst others, Goldline is the name given to the inter-city bus services operated by Ulsterbus. Until the 1990s it Goldline was called Ulsterbus Express and operated many of the same inter-city services as today, Goldline services are operated from Belfast to major destinations in Northern Ireland, plus the Goldline Express Services X1/X2 to Dublin. This service is worked jointly with Bus Éireann service X1, for many years, Derrys internal bus network was operated as Ulsterbuss Derry City Services. It was reorganised in September 2006 into Ulsterbus Foyle, in the same way that Translink Metro was used to modernise routes in Belfast the Ulsterbus Foyle network now offers 13 set routes across the city into the popular suburban areas of the city. Ulsterbus offer a private and contract hire service, with any type of bus in the current fleet available for hire. On a local basis, depots will allocate buses accordingly, duties include Eurolines duties 920,921, &923. The 921 is currently operated by three dedicated Irizar Centurys purchased in 2010, however, these are being replaced in August 2013, the vast majority of these are based in Glengall St, operating out of Great Victoria Street depot. Ulsterbus operate day tours to other parts of Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and Scotland, mainly shopping and to some tourist attractions. They also have a private hire service which is in use by fans of the Scottish Premier League sides Rangers F. C. Translink Ulsterbus NI Bus Irish Transport Trust Ulsterbus Photos Ulsterbus Tours
9.
Charles Lanyon
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Sir Charles Lanyon DL, JP was an English architect of the 19th century. His work is most closely associated with Belfast, Northern Ireland, Lanyon was born in Eastbourne, Sussex in 1813. His father was John Jenkinson Lanyon, a purser in the Royal Navy, following his education, he became an apprentice civil engineer with Jacob Owen in Portsmouth. When Owen was made senior Engineer and Architect of the Irish Board of Works and moved to Dublin, in 1835 he married Owens daughter, Elizabeth Helen. They had ten children, including Sir William Owen Lanyon, an army officer, Charles Lanyon was County Surveyor in Kildare briefly, before moving on to Antrim in 1836. He remained County Surveyor of Antrim until 1860 when he resigned from the post to concentrate on private work, Lanyon was elected Mayor of Belfast in 1862, and Conservative MP for the city between 1865 and 1868. In 1868 he was knighted and served on the Select Committee on Scientific Instruction. He lost his seat in Westminster, but became a councillor in Belfast Town Council from 1861 to 1871, from 1862 to 1886 he was Belfast Harbour Commissioner. He served as Deputy Lieutenant for County Antrim and was appointed High Sheriff of Antrim in 1876 and he was also a Justice of the Peace for many years. His other business interests included being director of the Blackstaff Flax Spinning Company and he was made director of the Northern Counties Railway in 1870, but resigned in 1887 because of ill-health. Lanyon lived at The Abbey a grand house in Whiteabbey, which became a sanitorium during World War I and is now part of Whiteabbey Hospital. He died there on 31 May 1889 and is buried in Newtownbreda graveyard and his will is recorded in the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland,8 August 1889, LANYON, Sir Charles, Effects £53,785 1s 3d. The will of Sir Charles Lanyon, late of the Abbey, Whiteabbey, the north Antrim coast was difficult to reach for many years. The Irish Commissioners of Public Works promoted the construction of the Antrim Coast Road between 1832 and 1842 by civil engineer William Bald, Lanyon was the County Surveyor for part of this time and would have had a considerable supervisory role. The route runs from Larne up through Ballygalley, Glenarm, Carnlough and it involved removal of thousands of tonnes of rock using explosives, and building sea walls. Part of this included the Glendun Viaduct. This building one of Charles Lanyons earlier buildings was completed in 1838 and it cost £1,125, plus £40 for the bench and fitting up. It is made mostly of basalt blocks with brick dressings, the main doorway is surrounded by a thick stone frame
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