When even the shared symbol of the Red Hand upsets at least one bigot, is it any wonder we get divided over terminology?

There seems to be some disagreement over what exactly constitutes Ulster and when it is and isn't appropriate to use the term. Indeed when I first mentioned this site (actually the gift shop) to a friend, she immediately declared that I'd "only get uber-loyalists" (or words to that effect), to which I initial reaction was "Why?"

Unionists tend to use the term Ulster to refer to Northern Ireland, either as a convenient short-form, or to highlight a certain continuity of identity that goes back to pre-partition (at the same time, perhaps, implying that Ulster lost Cavan, Monaghan and Donegal in 1921). The reason from my own point of view, and the reason that impacted the naming of this site, is simply convenience. Ulster is quicker to write and rolls of the tongue more easily than the quadricyllabic "Northern Ireland" - a fact backed up by the popularity of songs like "Stand up for the Ulstermen" and "Ulster 'til I die" with sports fans, which would sound distinctly worse had there been attempts to squash 4 cyllables into a space intended for 2. Let's face it, there aren't too many songs that include the words "Manchester United."

This map shows Northern Ireland and the "occupied three counties" which, depending on context, may or may not be under discussion when someone uses the term Ulster

When nationalists use the term, howeer, they tend to mean the 9 county province, the boundaries of which were set in the 16th century (by an English-based government!) to make it easier to administer Ireland under the crown. It's this definition which is also usually inferred when sports that are organised on an all-Ireland basis refer to the "Ulster branch."

Unlike Ireland, (an island; a geographical feature) whose bounds are obvious, ie the sea, Ulster has for centuries been a cultural/political entity, the boundaries of which have shifted several times. In fact, the area now known as Cavan was traditionally part of a Kingdom called Breifne (Breifne O'Reilly to be precise) which was part of Connacht. When Elizabeth I created Counties Cavan and Leitrim from Breifne in the 16th century, the northern county was gifted to Ulster (as a reward for loyalty IIRC).

Often, nationalists (particularly the more easily-amused republicans - usually the same ones who, without a hint of irony, do their best to associate Ireland and Irishness with the symbolism of the southern State) insist on "correcting" references to Ulster when the term is used to mean Northern Ireland. I could point out a few of the more simple-minded comments from EU's own archives as proof of this. However, it's worth remembering that Ulster has no fixed definition, in either British or Irish law. With no legal status, therefore, and no one agreed meaning, there is no single "correct" usage.

My final point on the matter is this. EverythingUlster is my site and I'll call it whatever the hell I want

I realise posts have been few and far between here recently. That's partly because I haven't read anything that interested me lately, except for a book on the story of eBay (The Perfect Store: Inside EBay), but mostly because I've been back at uni and facing all sorts of pressures on my time (already!!). Nevertheless, Paul (formerly of NI Magyar fame, but still rambling away in Hungary) has kindly sent me a report from Saturday's match in Denmark.

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The British Olympic Association must (and will) enter a UK team (or more likely, a "Great Britain & Northern Ireland" team) in the football competition in the 2012 Olympics in London. Despite opposition from the Welsh and Scottish FAs, worried that it might affect their independent status in FIFA/UEFA competitions, the BOA will select players from all over the UK. The Irish FA and English FA have already agreed, but there are fears the Scottish FA and Welsh FA may try to block this with threats of supsension from their respective national sides.

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A couple of days ago Mick Fealty mentioned rumours about an impending move by the Labour Party to organise properly in Northern Ireland. While I'd welcome such a move towards the normalisation of politics in this little corner of Britain, it turns out they still won't be allowing members to contest elections.

The Labour Party only agreed to allow Northern Ireland residents to be members of the party in 2004 after they were dragged through the courts, and then they adapted their rules to prevent those members from organising to contest elections.

Unfortunately, the Conservatives have made little or no progress in prising the voters of Ulster away from the sectarian headcount that passes for an election here, winning 0.4% of the 2005 Westminster vote and half that figure in the council elections. They have been the beneficiary of a number of UUP defections in recent months, since the Ulster Unionists forged their assembly party relationship with the PUP. There seems to be a significant feeling (at least between Iain Dale and Alex Kane) that this time sees the Conservatives' best opportunity here for 20 years to actually bring themselves to the fore of local politics.

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It's been a busy day for the DUP. They started the morning by lambasting Sinn Fein for boycotting a debate on law and order (a touch ironic given the desire Sinn Fein can't wait to get their mits on devolved Policing & Justice powers) and finished it with Peter Robinson revealing that the party has begun consulting its grassroots over sharing executive power with Sinn Fein.

It's all just so damn tedious and unbelievably predictable. Everything in Northern Irish politics just seems to take forever and I'm just getting really fed up now. We know the DUP will share power with Sinn Fein sooner or later, it's just a question of when - and frankly, it'll only be when the DUP are satisfied that they're calling the shots by making the decision to share power, for example, by Sinn Fein signing up to supporting the police.

Apparently they parties couldn't even agree that "to get into government, political parties should support the police and encourage others to do so." I'm still confused (though not surprised) about Sinn Fein's hypocrisy over this - wanting responsibility for policing on one hand, but refusing to support the police on the other.

Meanwhile Sinn Fein will not accept the police until they're content that they're calling the shots - though I'm not sure what it is they still want from the police. I get the impression they're more likely to hold out for something unrelated in a side-deal from their buddy at the NIO: Peter Hain.

As I said, tedium ad nauseum. That said, there could be a "shock" announcement overnight that they've managed to get a deal and get the assembly back up and running tomorrow - I still think I'd find it difficult to care. What we need is for a couple of politicians to come up with a brainwave. Something fresh and exciting, and completely "outside the box". Even something dull but practical (licensing supermarkets to sell booze, anyone?) would give us a cause for optimism, but with things our politicians it seems like the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Now that Northern Ireland's football team have just finished playing a couple of international matches, it seems it's time for the obligatory whinge to the local press about the perceived need for an all-Ireland football team. As ever, this argument will be made by a Northern Irish Irish-nationalist and based on the flimsiest of logic, and will be given airtime/column-inches on a slow news day.

This all-Ireland team will be called for regardless of whether Northern Ireland have just taken a 4-0 hammering, or just pulled off a once twice in a lifetime giant-killing feat. They will also usually cite the opinions of players who never reached their full potential playing for Northern Ireland.

Normally I would point out all sorts of reasons why this can't happen. I'd point out that Northern Ireland fans would be strongly opposed to what would at worst amount to little more than abolishing the Northern Ireland team, and at best having it absorbed into the Republic's side. They would argue that it has worked for Rugby. I would point out that it hasn't. I might also suggest that they check up on UEFA/FIFA rules, specifically the parts that state any new teams admitted must represent a nation-state (as defined by and registered with the UN).

Fortunately, this time I don't need to say any of those things, thanks to a few friendly travellers to Stuttgart last week. Enjoy.

There is a 2007 update to this post containing more recent information.

Over the years, I've bought numerous items from online mail order computer/electronics stores, and almost every time have been surprised by the high surcharge on deliveries to Northern Ireland (which can also render price comparison sites all but useless). Obviously as an outlying area extra costs may be incurred posting here but some of the charges are ridiculous. For example, I recently noticed one site, Novatech.com, where I spotted an item I'd been searching for for £4.50 and thought fantastic! Of course when it came time to checkout I was advised that I would pay nearly £16.50 to have that one little box delivered to Belfast. That's ok if you're spending a few hundred pounds, but when your delivery surcharge is more than the cost of the item(s), it's absurd.

There are ways round this of course. Some companies have reasonable postage policies for Northern Ireland, many charging the same rate as any other region of the UK - including every seller I've ever come across on ebay. Unfortunately, ebay isn't always an option, so for the benefit of any techies like me out there, I decided to do a little bit of investigative blogging and here's the rundown. I priced a wireless network card (Netgear's WG311 - between £21-£28) and proceeded to the checkout to investigate the postage costs. What I found at some online shops disturbed me.

Note: Since writing this, delivery prices have changed somewhat. Scan are now a rip-off at somewhere between ££15 and £25, while Dabs have reduced their NI surcharge to a more reasonable ££4.

The Good
Amazon - Although their individual item prices are some of the most expensive, including their price for the Netgear WG311 card, their free "Super-Saver" delivery on items over £15 means that Amazon are fairly decent if you're only ordering one item.
Total: £23.53 for the card + £0 postage = £23.53

Overclock.co.uk - I don't think I've ever placed an order from Overclock.co.uk, but they have a nice site and seem quite competitive. Overall they originally had the best price for the network card I was looking for, however Amazon's price reduction meant Amazon pipped them to the top spot.
Total: £22.05 for the card + £2.94 postage = £24.99

Dabs - These are the guys who used to charge less for delivery to the Republic than they did to Northern Ireland (or the Channel Islands, Isle of Man or far north Scotland). Actually I think they still do, but it's similar at least. I used to order a lot from them when their surcharge was a fiver because their prices for the items themselves are quite good and their service was reasonable too. When they upped it to £11.75 though, that obviously put me off and I think I've only ordered once (if that) since they reduced it again because I forget to even think of them.
Total: £25.85 for the card + £8.99 postage = £34.84*

Komplett - I've used Komplett just the once, for my MP3 player if I recall correctly, however they have the same delivery policy as Scan, treating Northern Ireland deliveries the same as any other UK deliveries. Like Scan, they didn't have the exact same card, so I used the same average price.
Total: £25.00 for the card + £6.75 postage = £31.75

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What a week. Northern Ireland get a hammering at home to underdogs Iceland, beat Spain, ranked 7th in the world, and then there's talk of the manager quitting.

Thankfully, on Saturday Lawrie Sanchez announced, to the surprise of some and delight of many, that he will be staying on as Northern Ireland manager. This puts an end to 72 hours of worry whether or not the man who has made such huge strides as Northern Ireland boss will still be there next month.

Then on Sunday he contacted the Our Wee Country fans' website expressing his gratitude for their support during the whole controversy, and apologising if the debacle had detracted from their happiness at the fantastic result against Spain. (They're still waiting for an apology from Stephen Beacom.)

He did take the opportunity to ask the fans to take anything they read in the media with a pinch of salt in future, "rather than have the opinions of those with other agendas foisted upon you." Obviously he believes some of the local journalists may not be too happy with his "snub", despite the fact he had plenty of other things on his mind at the time.

I don't know what I can add to that. The fans' delight at Lawrie's decision to stay says everything that needs to be said about Sanchez's credentials. No doubt there will be plenty of renditions of "Lawrie Sanchez's Green and White Army" and "There's Only One Lawrie Sanchez" in Copenhagen for the qualifier against Denmark next month.

Speculation is mounting that Lawrie Sanchez may quit as Northern Ireland manager inside the next week. Frankly, I wouldn't blame him. The shit he has taken in the last week from unprofessional journalists has been sensationalist and undeserved.

One of the worst offenders was the Belfast Telegraph's Stephen Beacom who, after the Spain match, despite knowing that Lawrie had a family bereavement to attend to, berated the manager for not speaking to the press after the match, accusing him of "snubbing the press and the chance to speak to the fans."

Ballocks Stephen. The fans understand; don't try and tell us what to feel, the fans aren't idiots and have our own feelings on the issue. The Tele is fast becoming a haven for tabloid tat, and Beacom seems to be playing no small part in that transformation. It's also been said that he was extremely overly critical of the manager on a news report on UTV, although I didn't see that myself. Beacom does seem to labour under the false impression that the fans view him as an (or the?) essential link to the manager. Stephen: you're not.

But it's not just the media at fault here. Rumours are rife that Sanchez doesn't get on too well with IFA head honchos Howard Wells and shamless self-publicist Jimmy Boyce (the two muppets who are acting as head cheerleaders for the Government's White Elephant proposals at the Maze). Frankly, if anyone should resign it should be those two; their unprofessional handling of this whole fiasco is only the tip of the iceberg.

The team had a shit day against Iceland, but Lawrie's record is still good and he's still overwhelmingly popular amongst the fans. Star striker, and hat-trick hero, David Healy made an empassioned plea today for Sanchez to stay on. I just hope that carries some sway with the manager and that he's still in the guvnor's seat come the trip to Copenhagen next month.

It's hard to think of much to add to the discussions already taking place regarding Northern Ireland's historic victory over Spain last night at Windsor Park (highlights linked last night).

The atmosphere at the ground was unbelievable and the tension in the second half was unbareable. I'm so glad I bought my ticket before the Iceland match - if I'd waited I may have decided not to bother and missed this spectacular event. Our wee country has now beaten both England and Spain in less than a year - what an achievement.

If I'd been offered a draw before the game I would have been tempted to accept it, however despite a few mistakes, the new defensive line-up performed much better than their counterparts on Saturday and David Healy was outstanding going forward. I just wish he could score a few like that for Leeds!

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