Talk:Belfast

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Contents

[edit] Ulster capital?

A couple of points:

  • does "Ulster" really have a "capital"? - a capital city is an active administrative role - "Ulster" is just a traditional/historical/geographical division of the island of Ireland. Perhaps it should say "was" the capital of Ulster? (was there a king there centuries ago?)
  • The article says Belfast's site has been inhabited since Iron Age times, but also claims it has been riven by sectarian strife for "most" of its existence. Since the Iron Age predates even CHRISTIANITY by many many centuries, never mind the Reformation, this is clearly an exageration! Was there sectarian strife in Belfast prior to partition in Ireland?

--feline1 07:49, 21 May 2005 (UTC)

Good points...
Ulster has not ever been an administrative unit so, yes I suppose it's not technically correct to say Belfast was the capital of Ulster... but that's the way people think of it, so I think it's a reasonable entry.
Sectarian strife was rife in Belfast in the 19th Century, developing particularly with mass immigration from places like County Armagh and South Derry were sectarian tensions had been high pretty much since the plantation. I'm not aware of any sectarian strife in the Iron Age! I'll fix.

Gerry Lynch 11:42, 21 May 2005 (UTC)

If Ulster had a capital wouldn't it be Armagh? Historically it was of a lot more significance than Belfast, and was the historical capital. See the first paragraph here: http://www.visit-armagh.com/ . Despite that though, is it worth having the 'capital of Ulster'? It's a very notional thing, and doesn't really add a lot to the article.

Ben Bulben 15:32, 16 Jun 2005 (UTC)

I'm not fussed personally, but no Belfast is definitely the capital of Ulster insofar as it has one. Ulster cultural and sporting institutions are based there, which sort of has to do as there are no Ulster wide administrative functions. Gerry Lynch 13:35, 19 July 2005 (UTC)

But that's the whole point - Ulster currently doesn't exist as a political or administrative entity, and therefore doesn't have a capital. However, presumeably the ancient kingdom of Ulster did have a captial (ie, the king had his seat somewhere)? If this was in Armagh, then Armagh was the capital of Ulster, not Belfast, and thus the respective articles should be corrected.--feline1 14:39, 19 July 2005 (UTC)

I've added two photos of murals in Belfast, and they are arranged to display only at the relevant section. There are more such photos available on Wikipedia Commons but I would suggest that we do not want to overpower the article and merely focus on sectarianism in Belfast.

Hopefully some more photos of Belfast would be forthcoming, any editors visiting the city or readers of this message could perhaps upload some photos.

zoney ♣ talk 22:05, 20 Mar 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Nationalists zealot PoV Mentalists

And yes, I am talking about *ewe* today, Lapsed Pacifist - why in the name of the sweet baby Jesus would an encylopedia article about Belfast (or indeed about any city in the world) not want to mention what country that city was in (currently the UK)? The fact that tedious nationalist zealots have similarly vandalized the Edinburgh article is no justification. This sort of behaviour is just juvenile. This is encyclopedia, on the Internet so people round the world can look up facts, not some vanity project to satisfy personal agendas. When Mrs B.Burgerbucket of Arkansas reads the article, it might be nice for her to be able to tell that Belfast is in the UK, not in Ireland or Norway or France. Perhaps we should, in the interests of balance and objectivity, add some stuff to the population section, where we explain "A large percentage of the population of Belfast are bigoted morons."--feline1 10:10, 31 August 2005 (UTC)

I have no problem with letting anyone from Arkansas know under which state's jurisdiction Belfast falls. However, "to be able to tell that Belfast is in the UK, not in Ireland" strikes me as less than precise. If you believe the behaviour of the contributors to the Edinburgh article is juvenile, you'll have to take it up with them. As regards "A large percentage of the population of Belfast are bigoted morons.", there's an element of truth in that, although it should probably be phrased more neutrally.

Lapsed Pacifist 11:17, 31 August 2005 (UTC)

/sighs/ OK, "...to be able to tell that Belfarce is in the UK, not the Republic of Ireland or Norway or France..." then. (I was not being as precise on a talk page as the articles themselves need to be, as ewe knew perfectly well what I meant!) Give me strength!--feline1 11:58, 31 August 2005 (UTC)
I think it is unneccessary to use United Kingdom, "Northern Ireland" would be quite sufficent because of its relationship with the UK - which is largely known by many and if not then one might aught to click on the link and "dig deeper" and find out for oneself. Djegan 20:07, 31 August 2005 (UTC)
That's like saying everyone knows that the Cayman Islands are under British rule, simply "just" because they are. NI isn't the most famous place in the world and neither are the Cayman Islands but all the same in the interest of fact things need to be stated, NI being the UK is one of them.
Three things in life are certain. Death, taxes and Nationalists refusing to believe they walk on British soil. Though I am biased in talk pages, I'm sure everyone can agree it's fact they do. --Dom0803 20:13, 31 January 2007 (UTC)

We're not Brazil; we're Northern Ireland! I think Northern Ireland should be used in most situations, and only if need be should we say "United Kingdom" (when talking of the Union with Britain) "European Union" (when talking of the Union in Europe) or "Ireland" (when talking of the island). Not only is it politically unbias, it's only a cold hard fact. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.71.134.247 (talk) 16:13, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] WW2

I've removed the reference to World War Two - Belfast was bombed a grand total of twice in 1941, and it is simply inaccurate to say that much of the city was flattened. If anyone puts it back could they do so with a bit more perspective, please? Belfast in WW2 was not bombed to anything like the degree of most big English cities... let alone Berlin or Leningrad! Gerry Lynch 15:28, 20 May 2005 (UTC)

Gerry, I suggest that deV sending up the Fire brigade deserves a mention --ClemMcGann 22:54, 2 Jun 2005 (UTC)
Sounds sensible. Gerry Lynch 13:35, 19 July 2005 (UTC)
A large area around St. Anne's Cathedral was destroyed; it must be remembered that Belfast is very small, so it doesn't take a lot to flatten 'large sections'- Fionnuala
Outside of London, Belfast was one of the most heavily damaged cities in the UK during World War II. --Mal 20:48, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Belfast

Belfast may only have been bombed twice during WW2 however lack of anti aircraft cover meant that there was a substantial amount of damage.

[edit] Joab

What was that 'River Joab' instead of the Farset thing all about?! Was someone just on the wrong drugs, or is that an alternative name for the buried river?--feline1 17:35, 8 Jun 2005 (UTC)

As far as I can see vandalism, the same anon created Armegh (Armagh?) which was quickly deleted on my recommendation. Djegan 17:56, 8 Jun 2005 (UTC)

[edit] City of Belfast vs. Belfast City Council

Material in the article table regarding area and population is somewhat dubious, in particular "City of Belfast" does not exist as an administrative area independent from the administrative area covered by the district served by Belfast City Council. And thus material from the latter would be more appropriate? Quite frankly the thought of styling "City of Placename" in Northern Ireland is mischevious as this implies that these places exist as administrative areas in their own right, which they do not, the City Council's hold the relevent legal documents and these are applicable for the whole area of the City Council district (except in the case of Newry). Djegan 20:18, 16 Jun 2005 (UTC)

The County Borough of Belfast (to which the City Charter is granted) has slightly different boundaries to Belfast Local Government District. The same is true in Derry. I think the Wikipedians had a big argument about this in a period when I wasn't posting. Gerry Lynch 13:35, 19 July 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Notable People

Rene Fusco? Can't agree that this is a notable person. Never heard of him myself and a google search yielded very few results. What's the procedure on deleting other people's edits? Stú 12:02, 26 July 2005 (UTC)

You have stated your objection here, that was polite. If there is no response, just edit the page yourself and remove the entry. "If he doesn't shout - rip it out!"--ClemMcGann 12:57, 26 July 2005 (UTC)


I wouldn't want to be the one to delete it, but is Ian Paisley a Belfast man?

I was the one who added Paisley - Paisley has lived in Belfast for 60 years - he orginated elsewhere but the notable people section is about people born/brought up/or living a significant part of their life in Belfast. For instance Dunlop who features was a Scot who lived in Belfast

David Dick? The Nobel site has no mention of him - deleting
I moved the Notable Belfast People to their own page as it was starting to dominate the Belfast page too much. Incidentally I added most of them so I have no problem doing this. It also means that in addition to an alphabetical list, they can be grouped by sports, politics, music etc.

[edit] Historic province of Ulster

Hi Feline1,

As you correctly point out above, claiming that Belfast is the "capital of Ulster" is inaccurate. However, the version I reverted to does not make this claim. It merely states the easily-verifiable fact that Belfast is the largest city in Ulster.

We've had problems before where a user went around inserting the words "historic province of" before all occurrences of the term "Ulster" in an attempt to push their POV that nine-county Ulster no longer existed and the term "Ulster" applied only to Northern Ireland. (not to mention other problems where a different user went around changing "Northern Ireland" to "Six Counties" all over the place.) While I'm sure this kind of POV-pushing wasn't your intent, please keep in mind that the geographical terms in Northern Ireland can be a hotly contested subject.

Hope this helps explain the reason for my revert.

Demiurge 13:02, 25 August 2005 (UTC)


Dungannon maybe?

[edit] Belfast co-ordinates

Checking my GPS - I have Lat: 54.59658 and Lon: -5.92983 for the approximate position for the Belfast City hall, the question is - where did the co-ordinates on the main page come from? A car park next the Westlink it seems

[edit] List of Districts

How was the listing of "Districts" derived? Is this an inclusive list of formal district names, or is it just an arbitrary collection of the names of different parts of town.

I think they are all Wards of Belfast, although I don't think it is a complete list. :: Keith :: 12:18, 24 December 2005 (UTC)
Its rather more arbitrary as some are not in Belfast as such being in what might be called Greater Belfast User:Biglobiglo
I would propose removing all the red links for now? Stu ’Bout ye! 08:38, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

I have removed all the red links in the districts section, as well as the list of roads. I don't feel these are needed and were making the article very messy. I also reworded the murals section for the same reason. Stu ’Bout ye! 09:09, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

A seperate article has been created for Main Roads of Belfast. I feel this isn't needed either. Anyone agree? Stu ’Bout ye! 15:53, 15 May 2006 (UTC)
Deletion? Djegan 18:20, 15 May 2006 (UTC)
It's a bit unencyclopedic, really - Ali-oops✍ 18:37, 15 May 2006 (UTC)
I went ahead and listed it. Stu ’Bout ye! 08:10, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] History

How about moving the history section to its own article in line with the histories of Irish cities template? Any takers? Jdorney 15:30, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

I say go for it, but I am on holiday now. Djegan 18:29, 14 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Short break destination

"The city recently gained the status of being the 2nd most popular city in the UK, above London and Glasgow, for short breaks."

Anyone got any references for this? I find it hard to believe that more people come to Belfast than London (if, of course, that's what "most popular" means). I had a look in Google, but the best I could find was a link to this article! MartinRobinson 00:06, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

Yeah i that refs would be nice. I know belfast is making a "comeback", but it just seems a bit out of the ordinary to be the "2nd most popular city in the UK". --Boothy443 | trácht ar 06:01, 1 March 2006 (UTC)
As nothing seems to be forthcoming, I have removed the sentence quoted above from the end of the first paragraph. If anyone finds a recent reference, they should feel free to insert it again. MartinRobinson 12:50, 7 March 2006 (UTC)
I cant find a ref for it but it was on the news and it is true!

[edit] Chinese

I would say this from the Ulster article

due to the considerable Chinese community of Belfast, the province's largest city. Belfast has more Chinese restaurants per capita than any other European city.

should be included here. In fact, I think the bit about Chinese restaurants should be removed from the Ulster article (the but about language and community should stay of course) Nil Einne 11:15, 1 April 2006 (UTC)

indeed even the history article doesn't mention the Chinese community (when did they come? why did they settle in Belfast? etc) Nil Einne 11:16, 1 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Murals

Has anyone thought about creating a separate article on Belfast murals? I have plenty of photos, which could be useful, but I do not really want to get involved in the writting (not my cup of tea, thank you) Regards,--Asterion 19:44, 16 April 2006 (UTC)

I think it is a good idea, but i would name it Northern Ireland/Irish murals, so that way murals from Derry and other cities could also be included. --Boothy443 | trácht ar 00:53, 17 April 2006 (UTC)
POV minefield, but yes the subject deserves an article. Agree with Boothy, it should be Northern Irish murals. Stu ’Bout ye! 11:12, 18 April 2006 (UTC)
Yeah thos issues would be expected in a article of the thype, but the subject could have the poential to be a featured article. --Boothy443 | trácht ar 04:40, 19 April 2006 (UTC)

Forgot about this. I'm considering going ahead and creating a Northern Irish murals page. Initially I would intend to cut and paste most of the text from the mural page, leaving just the introductory paragraph and a See main article link. The article can be expanded from there. There are numerous Creative Commons images on Flickr that could be used for a <gallery> </gallery>. Plus if Asterion can provide any. Any suggestions? Stu ’Bout ye! 13:26, 22 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] International Airport

A bit much to include the International Airport as part of Belfast perhaps, its a fair few miles outside the city (11 if I recall correctly) The article even states that its near Lough Neagh, the map shows how far away this is! Alastairward 18:37, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

I dont think so, it's not uncommon for the international airport of a city to be a distance away form the city proper or even the city center for that. --Boothy443 | trácht ar 04:43, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Map

Should there not be a map that shows Belfast's position in the UK and in the island of Ireland, given that it is both a British and Irish city? The current one just shows where it is in Northern Ireland. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Stpaul (talk • contribs) 17:02, 10 May 2006.

I'd say a map showing where it is on the island of Ireland might be a good idea (with the border on it, before anyone has a tantrum! lol). The current map serves its purpose, showing where it is within NI, but it might be a little abstract for anyone not familiar with NI. And is it really necessary to show the parliamentary constituencies along with the location of Belfast? It should show the counties if anything. On the other hand, I don't think there is any need for a map with GB on it; Belfast is politically linked to GB as part of the UK, but a map is a geographical representation, and Belfast is simply located on the island of Ireland. Martin 14:14, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Belfast sports teams

I'm Looking to write a section on Belfast Sports teams can anyone tell me where I should put this? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 86.144.90.103 (talk • contribs) 18:42, 13 May 2006.

Hi, I'd encourage you to register with Wikipedia before making major changes to any articles. That way, people will have more faith in your edits, and you can be contacted should anyone wish to discuss them with you. Martin 14:16, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] District pages merged

I merged some stubby district pages into the section on districts on this page. I redirected the old stubs here and removed some of the links from pages that linked to the districts that got merged. This is consistent with Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Precedents info on suburbs, which is the best guide I know. I also think it's just good practice not to have a short, individual article on every district of a big city like Belfast. --Chaser (T, C, e) 08:46, 23 May 2006 (UTC)

A one or two sentence stub seem rather useless and fit well into the main city article with a redirect from the district page unless there is some real substance to them. ww2censor 02:29, 24 May 2006 (UTC)
I'm not sure all those names should be in bold either. It looks a bit clutttered and I don't think it conforms to Manual of Style. Gerry Lynch 16:05, 19 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] CFD

The related Category:Members of the United Kingdom Parliament from Belfast constituencies has been nominated for deletion, merging, or renaming. You are encouraged to join the discussion on the Categories for Discussion page.

--Mais oui! 09:48, 24 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] World Gazetteer

The World Gazetteer gives no source or reference for its figures, so I've removed them pending that. Also, under no circumstances should the World Gazetteer figures be compared with the 2001 Census figures for the Belfast Urban Area; the two figures may not be calculated on the same basis - in fact given that 'estimated' increase of 17% or so, wildly unrealistic, they almost certainly aren't calculated on the same basis. Gerry Lynch 11:31, 25 July 2006 (UTC)

On the subject of population: [1] Stu ’Bout ye! 12:02, 25 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Images

I propose replacing some of the images on this article. The quality of some of them isn't great, and I definitely think the murals should be changed. These paramilitary type murals aren't entirely typical anymore and there are better alternatives at Northern Irish murals. Ones that I suggest be included are: Image:Belfast City Hall - Carisenda.jpgImage:Belfast Palm House.jpg

Stu, they shouldn't just be corralled off in a gallery like that though - it makes the article a bit too drab and difficult to read. Also, there should be a 'highlight' image in the infobox as there is for most other cities - I'd suggest your one of the City Hall. User:Gerry Lynch 18 August 2006 at about midday.

Opinions? Stu ’Bout ye! 10:55, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Trying to whitewash the sectarian murals of the past, are we? ;-)--feline1 11:23, 15 August 2006 (UTC)
Give me a bucket of paint and I'll have a go! But I don't think it is necessary to portray an overly negative view of Belfast. Stu ’Bout ye! 11:35, 15 August 2006 (UTC)
It's only necessary to portray an accurate one. Murals were first and foremost a public display of sectarianism, it would be egregious not to mention this in any encylopedia article on them.--feline1 11:49, 15 August 2006 (UTC)


I don't think that's what Stu is suggesting. In fact, I think he actually created a separate article on the very subject of murals in Northern Ireland. While the Troubles affected the whole of Northern Ireland, and Belfast suffered considerably as a result, there is much more to Belfast than just the Troubles, and I think that's the point Stu is making. --Mal 20:41, 21 August 2006 (UTC)


On a different point. could someone take a picture of the "sleeping giant" that is mentioned in the intro as inspiring Gulliver's Travels.- i think I know the place you mean - it's nicknamed Cleopatra's nose, or something? but to have a picture of it would surely give the sleeping giant claim a lot more identifiability to people who are completely unfamiliar with the city.--Macca7174 10:53, 12 March 2007 (UTC)
Napoleons nose, mate. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 86.146.148.140 (talk) 18:21, 18 March 2007 (UTC).

[edit] Belfast#Wildlife

Is this Wildlife paragraph really needed? I think perhaps it should atleast have some information added to it, or remove it completly. Not to mention the distinct lack of wildlife in Belfast, aside pigeons and rats. --Dom0803 18:28, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

I did not see the Wildlife section - have added a "Natural History" section. Would "Natural Science" be better. How about "Biology"? I don't mind. I new to this contraption! I howe to find more about the woldlife & to add. Osborne 09:12, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

Natural History: Readings

  • Beesley, S. and Wilde, J. 1997. Urban Flora of Belfast. Institute of Iriah Studies. ISBN 10: 085389695X

Osborne, thanks for suggestion of the book. Please feel free add something to the article about Wildlife/Natural History/Biology. Until then - I've moved the reference to the talk page. Tsumo9 23:51, 15 February 2007 (UTC)

Rats?Episcopal 13:41, 16 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Auto peer review suggestions

The following suggestions were generated by a semi-automatic javascript program, and may or may not be accurate for the article in question.

  • The lead of this article may be too long, or may contain too many paragraphs. Please follow guidelines at WP:LEAD; be aware that the lead should adequately summarize the article.
  • Per WP:CONTEXT and WP:MOSDATE, months and days of the week generally should not be linked. Years, decades, and centuries can be linked if they provide context for the article.
  • Per WP:MOS, avoid using words/phrases that indicate time periods relative to the current day. For example, recently might be terms that should be replaced with specific dates/times.[1]
  • This article has no images. Please see if there are any free use images that fall under WP:IUP and WP:IT that can be uploaded. To upload images on Wikipedia, go to Special:Upload; to upload non-fair use images on the Wikimedia Commons, go to commons:special:upload.[2]
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    • it has been
    • might be weasel words, and should be provided with proper citations (if they already do, or are not weasel terms, please strike this comment).[5]
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You may wish to browse through User:AndyZ/Suggestions for further ideas. Thanks, Mal 06:23, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Featured article

I've made a few changes today. These are to reflect what I've seen in other featured articles on cities. I don't think we're far away from featured status for Belfast. Peer review anyone? Or are there further changes that need to be made? Stu ’Bout ye! 09:29, 21 September 2006 (UTC)

Submitted. --Mal 16:00, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] 2nd Auto peer review

The following suggestions were generated by a semi-automatic javascript program, and might not be applicable for the article in question.

  • Per WP:MOS, avoid using words/phrases that indicate time periods relative to the current day. For example, recently might be terms that should be replaced with specific dates/times.[1]
  • Per WP:MOSNUM, there should be a non-breaking space - &nbsp; between a number and the unit of measurement. For example, instead of 18mm, use 18 mm, which when you are editing the page, should look like: 18&nbsp;mm.[3]
  • Per WP:MOSNUM, when doing conversions, please use standard abbreviations: for example, miles -> mi, kilometers squared -> km2, and pounds -> lb.
  • Please alphabetize the interlanguage links.[4]
  • There are a few occurrences of weasel words in this article- please observe WP:AWT. Certain phrases should specify exactly who supports, considers, believes, etc., such a view. For example,
    • it has been
    • might be weasel words, and should be provided with proper citations (if they already do, or are not weasel terms, please strike this comment).[5]
  • Watch for redundancies that make the article too wordy instead of being crisp and concise. (You may wish to try Tony1's redundancy exercises.)
    • Vague terms of size often are unnecessary and redundant - “some”, “a variety/number/majority of”, “several”, “a few”, “many”, “any”, and “all”. For example, “All pigs are pink, so we thought of a number of ways to turn them green.”
    • Temporal terms like “over the years”, “currently”, “now”, and “from time to time” often are too vague to be useful, but occasionally may be helpful. “I am now using a semi-bot to generate your peer review.”
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You may wish to browse through User:AndyZ/Suggestions for further ideas. Thanks, Mal 15:11, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] GA failed

I see there is a lot of interesting info in the however. However, a GA must meet several criterias, and I must fail the article for the following reasons:

  • There are some unreferenced and sweeping statements in the article, such as Many locals have quipped that this merely shows that "God loves a drinker".; in the transport section "Belfast is, by European standards, a relatively car-dependent city, and later Black taxis are common in the city, operating on a share basis in some areas
  • Lacking any historical references. In addition, inline references are also necessary for sentences such as Belfast was heavily bombed in 1941 during World War II, killing 1,000 people and leaving tens of thousands more homeless. (History-section)
  • "Points of interest" is trivia-like. This is not Wikitravel ;-). I suggest you restructure "Points of interest" into sections such as "Architecture and cityscape" and "Arts and culture"
  • Lead -- should be expanded. For example it should say something about modern times. See some FA:s, such as Vancouver or Canberra.
  • Would be nice with a reference of any sort to the section "Local politics"

Additional concerns:

  • Could you put the reference to "Climate" in a better place? See Canberra#Climate

Sorry I can't pass the article, and that I cannot pinpoint everything that needs to be done. I suggest you look at some other GA and FA articles on cities, and structure this article after those.

Fred-Chess 13:09, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

I think all of the points have been addressed. Stu ’Bout ye! 11:03, 12 March 2007 (UTC)

I started reviewing this article for GA status, but ended up making a couple significant changes which might go beyond simply minor grammatical modifications. I think it's probably worthy of GA status, but I'd like another reviewer to look at it first.

One thing that could possibly hold it up, however, are the citations; while the article is well-referenced, the citations are not formatted very well, with many citations including only a single URL to a website or news article. Citations should included additional information, such as author, title, date published, who published it, and when the URL was retrieved, so as to make the citation useful even if the URL is no longer accessible. You might find WP:CITE useful in this regard.

Other than that, the article looks good! Good luck! Dr. Cash 23:56, 26 March 2007 (UTC)

Wanted to get a second opinion, but after a one week lapse, with no major changes to the article or my suggestions, I think this article meets the GA criteria, so I am passing it! Editors should still review the reference citations and add necessary formatting details per WP:CITE, but it's good. Cheers! Dr. Cash 22:10, 2 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] NPov, Belfast is Booming

Thanks for your additions, dude, it's all factually correct, well done - though I'm afraid I don't think it meets the npov criteria. Would calling it Urban Regeneration be more accurate? I think if this was written in a more neutral fashion it would be a hugely more valuable addition. Actually a vast amount of regeneration has gone on recently.martianlostinspace 20:54, 21 January 2007 (UTC)

Stub, join a discussion with me about this please. I don't want an edit war.martianlostinspace 12:14, 27 January 2007 (UTC)

Ummm, it's Stu. Left a reply on your talk page. Stu ’Bout ye! 09:06, 29 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Cityscape?

What about a cityscape photo of Belfast? Something like these Featured Articles: Cape Town, Hong Kong or Seattle (this has a few). This photo used to be in the Belfast Article but it's a bit far from the city centre and it's raining!

The city doesn't have much of a skyline so maybe a panorama from Cavehill or an aerial or sat photo might be more interesting? Any suggestions? Tsumo@ 11:51, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

I'm going to add this, there's no other image that shows such a view of the city. This image gives you more of a feel then the ones of individual sites. MichiganCharms 13:29, 10 June 2007 (UTC)

I was on Cavehill on Saturday. Took a panorama, but the results aren't spectacular. It is from too far away, and as Tsumo says the skyline isn't that impressive. I'm thinking a panorama like Image:Laganside development.jpg would be better. The resolution isn't very high on this one though. Stu ’Bout ye! 13:32, 25 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Belfast county borough / county status

with regards to Belfast's status and recent edits... Under the 1972 local government act[2] traditional counties (contrary to popular belief) weren't abolished. They simply ceased to have any administrative functions. So Belfast is in County Antrim and County Down. County Boroughs were a seperate thing. The background to this is that many county boundaries used geographical features notably rivers. However rivers with their water supply/trade potential etc are also an excellent place for starting cities. Consequently many cities crossed county boundaries. The result was that many cities were granted borough status which made them independent of the relevant county councils for administrative purposes. Although they remained geographically part of those counties.

Belfast's county borough status has nothing to do with parliamentary elections. Constituencies are subdivided into 'county constituencies' (those that contain more than a token rural element) and borough constituencies (those that don't). For example Luton was a County Borough but Luton North was a county constituency and Luton South a borough constituency. Valenciano 11:57, 25 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] GA on hold

This article has been reviewed as part of Wikipedia:WikiProject Good articles/Project quality task force in an effort to ensure all listed Good articles continue to meet the Good article criteria. In reviewing the article, I have found there are some issues that may need to be addressed.

  • Please provide a fair use rationale for Image:Imagine Belfast 2008.JPG
  • I have doubts whether User:Dom0803 owns the copyright to Image:DSCF0195.JPG
  • "The Northern Ireland national football team, currently ranked 27th in the FIFA World Rankings" - to ensure readers the figure is up-to-date, state which month this ranking was given
  • "Celtic League champions and former European Rugby Union champions Ulster play at Ravenhill" - state which year they were Celtic League champions
  • Please provide citations for these statements:
    • "However, the IRA Ceasefire in 1994 and the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 have given investors increased confidence to invest in Belfast."
    • "The Belfast Trust is one of five new NHS trusts which were created on 1 April 2007 by the Department of Health."
    • "Casement Park in West Belfast, home to the Antrim county teams, has a capacity of 32,000"
    • "the Belfast Giants play their home matches at the Odyssey Arena, watched by up to 7,000 fans."
    • "Other significant sportspeople from Belfast include double world snooker champion Alex "Hurricane" Higgins and world champion boxers Wayne McCullough and Rinty Monaghan."

I will check back in no less than seven days. If progress is being made and issues are addressed, the article will remain listed as a Good article. Otherwise, it may be delisted (such a decision may be challenged through WP:GA/R). If improved after it has been delisted, it may be nominated at WP:GAC. Feel free to drop a message on my talk page if you have any questions. Regards, Epbr123 16:39, 17 September 2007 (UTC)

All done. Stu ’Bout ye! 20:15, 17 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] GA Pass

This article has been reviewed as part of Wikipedia:WikiProject Good articles/Project quality task force. I believe the article currently meets the criteria and should remain listed as a Good article. The article history has been updated to reflect this review. Regards, Epbr123 20:22, 17 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Infobox.

Anyone else agree we should revert to the old infobox? It seems more relevant. Derry Boi 23:58, 19 September 2007 (UTC)

No. Regardless of your obvious political motives (shown by the fact you've reverted a few infoboxes to the Ireland info box) geography as well as politics puts Belfast firmly in the United Kingdom. Anything else is inaccurate. If the mention of the UK bothers you *that* much then why not consider proposing a Northern Ireland info box, but to be fair, don't mention the south in it, ok? --Blowdart 20:43, 20 September 2007 (UTC)
A mix of both would probably be best. This article has had a GA review and a PR in the last week or so, and I'm intending to FAC it soon. A FA article has to be stable, so please can we work contructively on this.
There's more information on the UK template, so I would propose using that as the base. The only information currently contained solely in the Irish template that I can see is postal codes and province. This could probably be added to the UK template. However this isn't about the Belfast article individually, so I suggest raising it elsewhere. Stu ’Bout ye! 08:29, 21 September 2007 (UTC)
And of course the province doesn't really apply; Ulster as a "political" entity doesn't exist any more. Post codes are in the UK template, using the UK terms as opposed to the more generic "Postal Code" reference. --Blowdart 09:31, 21 September 2007 (UTC)


[edit] GAA in Belfast

Am I the only one who thinks that this section is extremely flawed. Especially the line about Belfast not being a 'hotbed for GAA'? When 22 clubs compete full-time in the Antrim championships, and a few like Ballynafeigh compete in the Down championships, I think that statement can be disproved quite easily.

http://antrim.gaa.ie/clubs/?2

Every club on that page is from the Belfast area. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.29.227.86 (talk) 14:50, 6 October 2007 (UTC)

I agree with this. I'm not a huge fan of GAA myself and I might be describled as being from the "other side of the fence" but the Gaelic Games are a very large part of the sporting culture of Northern Ireland and Belfast, and the statement is pretty flawed. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.71.134.247 (talk) 16:16, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Capital of Northern Ireland??

I know we had the debate on Belfast being capital of Ulster, but I'm wondering is there any cited, referenced, statutory basis other than custom for describing Belfast as Capital City of Northern Ireland. Perhaps someone is aware of some legislation. 4theChildren 12:01, 19 October 2007 (UTC)

The local government is based there. That`s the normal definition of capital. Ben W Bell talk 02:44, 21 October 2007 (UTC)

Ben, getting very flexible in your old age. Usually only countries have Capital Cities and if the term is being used for a unit at a lower level some other descriptor is added - for example in America the term State Capital is used. Belfast could be described as a Regional Capital perhaps. Surely the Capital City of Northern Ireland is London.4theChildren 12:31, 22 October 2007 (UTC)

Is correct. But the UK has a different tradition to its constituant countries than the USA does. The Capital of the UK is London, but it would be fairly well accepted that 3 of the 4 constituant countries of the UK have their own capitals.Traditional unionist 12:37, 22 October 2007 (UTC)

That's the problem. Northern Ireland isn't a country. It was never a country. It didn't have any prior existence outside the UK in the way that England, Scotland and Wales (and indeed Ireland) did. So it's a regional capital but not a Capital City.4theChildren 14:28, 22 October 2007 (UTC)

I agree that Belfast isn't really a capital. However all of the other encyclopedias say that "Belfast is the capital of Northern Ireland" (small "c"), so that is what we should probably use, i.e. leave it as it is. --Sciencewatcher 15:19, 25 October 2007 (UTC)

The capital of the United Kingdom is London, so Northern Irelands, Scotlands, Englands and Wales's Capital is London. (YellowSnowRecords 08:46, 8 November 2007 (UTC))

The lead currently omits any mention of Belfast being, or at least described as, the capital of Northern Ireland. Is this the consensus? - I can't see it being. Indeed there are multiple sources that assert the claim, this being a fairly high quality one. -- Jza84 · (talk) 21:05, 9 January 2008 (UTC)
There's something suspect here; The source being used to claim Belfast is the capital of Ulster, actually states it is the capital of NI. [3]. I suggest a change. -- Jza84 · (talk) 21:12, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Automatic addition of "class=GA"

A bot has added class=GA to the WikiProject banners on this page, as it's listed as a good article. If you see a mistake, please revert, and leave a note on the bot's talk page. Thanks, BOT Giggabot (talk) 04:53, 10 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Infobox static image

There are loads of great images in this article. Why not have one in the infobox as a static image? This would be like Detroit, Manchester, Hamersley, Western Australia, Oldham, New York, Dorset, Tulsa, Oklahoma, all FAs. -- Jza84 · (talk) 21:12, 15 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Climate chart

One suggestion: Should we move to a standard Template:Climate_chart ?

One comment: we really should not have imperial measures before metric ones in that chart. I can't think of another UK city that has a precedence for imperial measures in its wikipedia page and meteorology in the UK has been completely metricated for many decades. I am changing.

Gerry Lynch (talk) 12:43, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

Another issue over climate, I know we have a cold climate but 18C average max for July/August sounds a bit wrong!? As far as I can remember it's always been hovering around mid 20s. Except in 2007 when it just went Spring --> Rain --> Autumn. 82.7.99.78 (talk) 21:15, 15 March 2008 (UTC)

Yes, I'm sure. One only remembers the good days! Temperatures above 27C are as rare as hen's teeth and temps in the mid-teens depressingly common, even in July. Gerry Lynch (talk) 17:39, 26 March 2008 (UTC)
Sounds realistic, I remember last August when I was there it was 14 degrees for most of a week. Valenciano (talk) 18:11, 26 March 2008 (UTC)
Yeah, 2007 was terrible, even for us! Flooding everywhere over the UK and Ireland too. I had a look at weatheronline.co.uk where you can see the temps for the last decade and it's usually 23/24 in July and August with high 20s very rare. That 18C average is probably from when records started. No doubt this is climate change!!! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.7.99.78 (talk) 19:21, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Holy City

Are you sure this is a Holy CityFila934 (talk) 17:31, 7 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Fair use rationale for Image:BestCregaghEstateMural.jpg

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BetacommandBot (talk) 19:07, 13 February 2008 (UTC)