I'm wondering about Irish culture in Northern Ireland, and how present it is? How much dows NI identify and take pride in Ireland as opposed to Great Britain? Has their own proper culture been preserved at all? Can their kids learn Irish? Consider themselves Irish? That sort of thing. What's the situation?

Grma
A

There are people in Northern Ireland who are very proud of the British connection and there are others who don't consider themselves British at all, which is one of the reasons for the conflict that flares up from time to time.

The Sinn Féin party did a lot to promote the Irish language, but that also had a negative effect because unionists wanted nothing to do with it. Speaking Irish was seen as a nationalist/anti-British thing. I think that perception is slowly changing because there are a lot of non-political groups promoting the language nowadays.

There is a gaeltacht quarter around the Falls Road area of Belfast, and they are trying to set up something similar in Derry.

Fleadh cheoil na hÉireann will be held in Derry next August. As far as I know, this is the first time for the fleadh to be held in Northern Ireland. There was a bit of controversy around this, because it coincides with Derry being named the "British City of Culture" for 2013. Some people don't want the fleadh to be associated with any festival that calls Derry a "British" city.

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Táim ag foghlaim fós. Fáilte roimh gach aon cheartúchán.

Here is a part of a Wikipedia article about the breakdown of the population in the six counties.

Citizenship and identity

Further information: British nationality law and Irish nationality law

Several studies and surveys performed between 1971 and 2006 have indicated that, in general, Protestants in Northern Ireland see themselves primarily as British, whereas Roman Catholics regard themselves primarily as Irish.[37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44] This does not however account for the complex identities within Northern Ireland, given that many of the population regard themselves as "Ulster" or "Northern Irish", either as a primary or secondary identity.

A 2008 survey found that 57% of Protestants described themselves as British, while 32% identified as Northern Irish, 6% as Ulster and 4% as Irish. Compared to a similar survey carried out in 1998, this shows a fall in the percentage of Protestants identifying as British and Ulster, and a rise in those identifying as Northern Irish. The 2008 survey found that 61% of Catholics described themselves as Irish, with 25% identifying as Northern Irish, 8% as British and 1% as Ulster. These figures were largely unchanged from the 1998 results.[45][46]

People born in Northern Ireland are, with some exceptions, deemed by UK law to be citizens of the United Kingdom. They are also, with similar exceptions, entitled to be citizens of Ireland. This entitlement was reaffirmed in the 1998 Good Friday Agreement between the British and Irish governments, which provides that:

"...it is the birthright of all the people of Northern Ireland to identify themselves and be accepted as Irish or British, or both, as they may so choose, and accordingly [the two governments] confirm that their right to hold both British and Irish citizenship is accepted by both Governments and would not be affected by any future change in the status of Northern Ireland.

As a result of the Agreement, the Constitution of the Republic of Ireland was amended. The current wording provides that people born in Northern Ireland are entitled to be Irish citizens on the same basis as people from any other part of the island of Ireland.[47] Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_I ... d_identity

In relation to Irish medium schools - Gaelscoileanna - in the six counties: http://www.deni.gov.uk/index/schools-an ... ols_pg.htm

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I think identity is more polarised in Northern Ireland than the Irish identity in the Republic or the British identity in Great Britain. You'll have some areas that are overtly Irish, and some which are overtly British, so yes there are areas where traditional Irish culture is alive and well

That is really really great to know. I'd love to fid a good balance... Out of curiosity are there any areas better with that than others?

Out of curiosity, are you using 'better' as a synonym for 'more Irish'?

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Ahaha, not quite better at balancing the two. :P