Die Grenzen des Brexit – Erkundungen in Nordirland

Die Englisch-Leistungskurse entschieden sich 2018 für eine Kursfahrt nach Nordirland. Sie versprach nicht nur einen Eindruck von der Landschaft der grünen Insel. Auch den Auswirkungen des Brexit auf (Nord)Irland sollte auf dieser Reise nachgespürt werden.

Auf dem Programm standen Belfast, Derry und die UNESCO-Welterbestätte Giant’s Causeway.

Our Trip to Northern Ireland

From Sunday, June 24 to Sunday, July 1 the three advanced English courses went on a school trip to Northern Ireland. The flight took two hours and so we arrived in Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland, on Sunday at 12 o‘clock. After we had checked in at our hostel, we went on a rallye through Belfast, which was a great opportunity to get to know the city. In the evening we cooked our own dinner in three different groups, as we would do on all the other days in Northern Ireland, too. And although we had to adjust to the sparse cooking utensils, the results were quite delicious. On Monday we visited City Hall and learned how it had come into existence and we were told something about the city itself. After that we went on a two-hour-long free walking tour of Belfast. We had a nice tour guide, who told us about Belfast’s history and his life there. In the evening we went to the cinema, where we could choose which movie we wanted to watch. On Tuesday we went to the murals at Shankill and Lower Falls Road which showed political cartoons painted by either Protestants or Catholics. Afterwards we visited the Northern Ireland Assembly in Stormont, where we learned, that the Northern Irish parliament has been suspended for quite a while now and is not actually working. After that our coach took us to Queen‘s University Belfast. On Wednesday we first had a tour of the old castle Carrickfergus, then we crossed the rope bridge at Carrick-A-Rede, where we could enjoy the beautiful landscape and where we could even see Scotland in the distance. Later in the afternoon we visited the World Heritage Site “the Giant’s Causeway“ where we climbed the rocks, had a look around and were informed about the legend and given other explanations how it came into existence.

In the evening we checked in at a youth hostel in Derry where all the boys had to share only one room, and the girls were put into two rooms, which were too small and did not meet our expectations at all. After some adjusting to the circumstances we continued our programme the next day with a rallye through the town. We also got the opportunity to meet the very friendly and likeable mayor of Derry who answered every question we asked. On Friday  we went to Donegal in the Republic of Ireland, visited the ringfort Grianàn of Aileach and then were surprised by a visit to a very beautiful golf club, where we got the chance to have a go at this sport. In the afternoon we went hiking for three hours and even though it was very hot, sunny and exhausting, we could enjoy a fantastic and unforgettable view.

On our last day in Northern Ireland we visited the museum of Free Derry, where we learned about Bloody Sunday and the Battle of the Bogside. After that we went back to Belfast by coach. There we had free time, and some of us took the chance to go to the Titanic  Museum. In the evening we all had a delicious meal at an Indian restaurant. We then returned to the hostel, packed our bags and not all of us went to sleep, because we had to leave for the airport at 4 o’clock in the morning.

All in all, it was an interesting trip and we learned a lot about the country and enjoyed the beautiful countryside. The rallyes and many reports on history, sights and culture had been prepared by the participants in advance, so that everybody contributed to the successful outcome.

Timea Römer (2. Sem.)