{"id":2442,"date":"2011-12-21T08:19:40","date_gmt":"2011-12-21T13:19:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sbwsonline.ca\/Ireland\/?p=68"},"modified":"2019-04-22T07:55:09","modified_gmt":"2019-04-22T11:55:09","slug":"west-belfast-ireland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/gccihome.com\/travel\/west-belfast-ireland\/","title":{"rendered":"West Belfast &#8211; Ireland"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-2471\" src=\"http:\/\/gccihome.com\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/belfast-ireland.jpg\" alt=\"West Belfast\" width=\"200\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"http:\/\/gccihome.com\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/belfast-ireland.jpg 200w, http:\/\/gccihome.com\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/belfast-ireland-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/>Belfast is the capital of Northern Ireland. It is also the largest city in Northern Ireland.\u00a0 Belfast is smaller than Dublin in Southern Ireland.\u00a0 Although the city has a population of\u00a0 267,000, it lies in a metropolitan area of 641,000 people.\u00a0 In the past industries such as tobacco, linen, rope making and ship building were the main industries.\u00a0 Today it is an industrial and economic power house. It has recovered from the set backs caused by what is know as the &#8220;troubles&#8221; . This is Ireland today with many new business opportunities.<\/p>\n<h2>Violence has Declined<\/h2>\n<p>There was a great deal of violence, shootings and bombings during the period from 1969 until 1990. This caused industry as well as people to move away from Belfast. Over 1500 people were killed in the period from 1969 until 2001. Especially with\u00a0 the development of the waterfront area, Victoria Square and the Belfast City center.<br \/>\n<!--more--><br \/>\nThe highest levels of segregation in the city are in west Belfast with many areas greater than 90% Catholic. Opposite but comparatively high levels are seen in the predominantly Protestant east Belfast.<\/p>\n<h2>What it is Like in West Belfast<\/h2>\n<p>There are two airports that serve Belfast. The George Best Belfast city airport in the city and the Belfast International airport which is about 15 kilometers outside the city. There is also a major seaport with commercial and industrial docks.<\/p>\n<p>The average temperatures in the summer are around 18 C and 6 C degrees in the winter time. They do receive some snow in the winter, however it does not stay long with these temperate temperatures.<\/p>\n<p>Since 2001, boosted by increasing numbers of tourists, the city council has developed a number of cultural quarters. The Cathedral Quarter takes its name from St Anne&#8217;s Cathedral (Church of Ireland). It has taken on the mantle of the city&#8217;s key cultural locality. It hosts a yearly visual and performing arts festival.<\/p>\n<p>Custom House Square is one of the city&#8217;s main outdoor venues for free concerts and street entertainment. The Gaeltacht Quarter is an area around the Falls Road in west Belfast. This area promotes and encourages the use of the Irish language.<\/p>\n<p>The Queen&#8217;s Quarter in south Belfast is named after Queen&#8217;s University. The area has a large student population and hosts the annual Belfast Festival at Queen&#8217;s each autumn. It is home to Botanic Gardens and the Ulster Museum, which was reopened in 2009 after major redevelopment.<\/p>\n<h2>The Golden Mile<\/h2>\n<p>The Golden Mile is the name given to the mile between Belfast City Hall and Queen&#8217;s University. Taking in Dublin Road, Great Victoria Street, Shaftesbury Square and Bradbury Place, it contains some of the best bars and restaurants in the city.<\/p>\n<p>Since the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, the nearby Lisburn Road has developed into the city&#8217;s most exclusive shopping strip.<\/p>\n<h2>Titanic Quarter<\/h2>\n<p>Finally, the Titanic Quarter covers 0.75 km2 (0 sq mi) of reclaimed land adjacent to Belfast Harbour, formerly known as Queen&#8217;s Island. Work has begun which promises to transform some former shipyard land into &#8220;one of the largest waterfront developments in Europe&#8221;. Plans also include apartments, a riverside entertainment district, and a major Titanic-themed museum.<\/p>\n<p>Now that the &#8220;troubles&#8221; are over, Belfast has become a great place to visit and see all of the many historical things to do in the city. Don&#8217;t miss the many murals that have been drawn on various walls that depict the time of the troubles and people who were killed during this time.<\/p>\n<p>For more posts about Ireland including both Belfast and Dublin, <a href=\"http:\/\/gccihome.com\/travel\/category\/ireland\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>click here.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Belfast is the capital of Northern Ireland. It is also the largest city in Northern Ireland.\u00a0 Belfast is smaller than Dublin in Southern Ireland.\u00a0 Although the city has a population of\u00a0 267,000, it lies in a metropolitan area of 641,000 people.\u00a0 In the past industries such as tobacco, linen, rope making and ship building were [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1506],"tags":[1141],"class_list":["post-2442","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ireland","tag-belfast-northern-ireland"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>West Belfast - Ireland - Travel Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/gccihome.com\/travel\/west-belfast-ireland\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"West Belfast - Ireland - Travel Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Belfast is the capital of Northern Ireland. It is also the largest city in Northern Ireland.\u00a0 Belfast is smaller than Dublin in Southern Ireland.\u00a0 Although the city has a population of\u00a0 267,000, it lies in a metropolitan area of 641,000 people.\u00a0 In the past industries such as tobacco, linen, rope making and ship building were [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/gccihome.com\/travel\/west-belfast-ireland\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Travel Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-12-21T13:19:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-04-22T11:55:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/gccihome.com\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/belfast-ireland.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"ernie\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"ernie\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/gccihome.com\\\/travel\\\/west-belfast-ireland\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/gccihome.com\\\/travel\\\/west-belfast-ireland\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"ernie\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/gccihome.com\\\/travel\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/03d42acc3fdddea28f0653b3ea827c06\"},\"headline\":\"West Belfast &#8211; 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